Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Parental adjustment part of college experience
By Alex Clark
Daily Nebraskan (U. Nebraska)
06/02/2006

(U-WIRE) LINCOLN, Neb. — Every year in the U.S., recent high school graduates leave home in droves to attend an institution of higher learning — sometimes far away.

For many parents, this may be their first experience with their children living away from home for an extended period of time.

According to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Fact Book, of the 21,675 students enrolled at UNL in the fall of 2005, 17,315 of them originated from somewhere outside of Lancaster County, the county that contains the City of Lincoln.

Of those men and women, 5,639 came from out-of-state or out-of-country.

And that leaves many parents adjusting to an empty room or two in the house.

The terms "helicopter parents" and "empty nest syndrome" refer to problems parents have when adjusting to their young college students' departure.

Jim Medici and his wife Christine Medici of Elkhorn, have twin daughters, Lauren and Catherine, who last fall started school at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and George Washington University in Washington, D.C., respectively.

"I think it's just an important step in a maturation process and it's worthwhile," said Jim Medici in regards to his daughters' distance from home. "I think they gain something by going a distance from home. (It) fosters a stronger sense of independence."

Rebecca and Brent Bloom of Omaha, Neb. have one son, Alex, who has attended school at the University of Denver, Colo., for two years. Their son Eli will be starting school at University of Nebraska at Omaha in the fall, while living with his parents.

Rebecca Bloom talks with Alex on the phone regularly.

"Once a week or so," she said. "Not incessantly, or when he needs money," she added.

Jim Medici joked that the biggest upside to his daughters leaving for college was saving on car insurance.

UNL has a "Parent Resources" Web site with general information about the university, hotels and transportation in Lincoln for visitors and activities for parents, like the UNL Parents Association.

The website is located at http://www.unl.edu/unlpub/resourcesfor/parent/.

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