What to Do When Your Child Isn't Happy in College (From a Mom Who's Been There) by Dawn Taylor

My son, Bailey, didn’t work too hard his first two years of high school. When it finally clicked it might hurt him when applying to college, he got to work.

It wasn’t enough.

He didn’t get into his first choice, but it turned out to be a blessing, as hard as that year was. He went to a state school and just never found his groove there. 

He had a hard time connecting with people after having suffered a breakup with a serious girlfriend as she went off to a college far away. His best friends were also now scattered across the country. 

He was feeling down, but I didn’t want to micromanage his life. But I let him know I was just a phone call away.

He settled in but was pretty solitary. He focused on his grades with a plan to apply to his first-choice college again to transfer in his second year. He also did some broadcasting for another local college and earned respect there as he juggled that and his course load.

He ended that year on the President’s List, easily made the cut to “his” college with a huge yearly incentive award there. 

My biggest contribution? To let him figure it out. And boy did he. 

Happy junior year, son, at St. Lawrence University!