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Rhythm of the Year

The Rhythm of the Academic Year Austin and Sousa, 1991 & Chickering and Reisser 1993

September

• homesickness/loneliness
• excitement
• doubts about choice of school
• tendency to test new limits and boundaries
• for new students, frequent calls/visits home
• anxiety about roommates/peers
• anxiety about professors
• anxiety about intellectual competency
• first round of tests/assignments at end of month anxiety/conscious about financial situation

October

• roommate problems begin to arise
• concerns about social climate ("Do I fit in here?")
• struggling with intellectual competency
• first marks may be returned
• midterm exams beginning
• relationships from home still going strong
• for graduating students, concerns re: post-graduation plans begin to surface (including resume preparation, graduate school applications)
• receiving pressure and expectations to perform well from home

November

• Midterms grades returned
• roommate problems getting more serious
• lots of exams/papers due
• pressure building re: course work
• feelings of incompetency set in/or a sense things will be okay
• stress levels high

December

• anxiety about going home for holidays surface
• anxiety/sleeplessness regarding preparation for finals
• sadness about leaving new relationships
• for first-year students, anxiety over next term classes
• for graduating students, realization that they are entering the last term
• feelings of missing out on holiday fun due to studying, exams, sense of being cheated

January

• for graduating students, frustration due to barrage of questions over holidays from relatives, neighbors, etc. regarding post-graduation plans
• disappointment/excitement regarding first term grades
• seeing this as a time to make a 'fresh start'
• relief at being away from home/back at school
• loneliness for relationships back home
• homesickness

February

• feelings of claustrophobia - campus is getting 'smaller'; weather is affecting moods, etc.
• tempers short, tension level quite high
• increase in alcohol substance abuse
• breakup of relationships back home

March

• anxiety begins over choosing/finding roommate(s) for the following academic year
• disappointment on the part of those students who can't afford to travel over spring break
• for graduating students, realization that this is the last spring break - "last chance for free time"
• anxiety over midterm exams
• focus on body image
• for graduating students, the issue of post-graduation plans intensify nervousness over registering for courses

April

• excitement over arrival of fine weather and term ending
• panic over not finding a roommate(s)/of being abandoned
• end of term pressure begins
• for graduating students, the feelings surrounding separation issues become intense
• anxiety over final exams
• apprehension about returning home for the summer
• sadness over losing touch with new friends
• sadness over losing contact with relationship for graduating students, ambivalent feelings: pride in graduation, relief it's all over, sadness it's all over, excitement about entering the next phase - the work world; anxiety over having to produce in a competitive world, fear of the unknown

Throughout the entire year:

• anxious about what they will do when they are done university
• anxious about finances
• anxious about intellectual ability
• missing birthday celebrations at home (theirs and others)
• missing holiday celebrations at home (including Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Thanksgiving, Passover, Easter etc)
• missing special family-specific traditions
• feeling left out of decision making regarding family matters, important or not (e.g.: buying a car, getting a new pet, home renovations, etc.)

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