Studying at university is an opportunity for learning and personal growth, as well as a major life transition which takes time and brings about considerable difficulties.

A healthy adaptation to university life enhances the chances of success as students develop effective learning patterns and are more likely to persist rather than drop out when they are struggling with academic and emotional challenges. Some students manage this transition with relative ease, while others struggle as they encounter problems. Consequently they may feel anxious and discouraged.

The passage to university shakes a young person’s identity. Thus one of the major challenges fresh undergraduates face is that of establishing a new identity including reorganising the way they perceive themselves within the new context. This process entails letting go of their younger teenage selves and redefining themselves as adult university students.

In the initial phases, first year students often feel lost in the university crowd and as they read the culture of university, it is common that they grow increasingly anxious and go through periods of self-doubt.

Immersed in a sea of many new faces, students may struggle with feelings of loss as they miss their former friends with whom they may have separated. Building social networks is often functional in order to establish a sense of belonging: in fact, some young people choose to give themselves a head start by joining online groups of university students and interacting with others who are in the same situation before the course starts.

Similarly, the induction phase can be fruitful for students as they are given the opportunity to build support structures by connecting with other people on campus. Talking to students who are doing well at university, joining student organisations or study groups, and becoming involved in activities can all enhance a smoother process into university life. Rapports that start at university can turn into meaningful friendships particularly because in late adolescence, young people develop their capacity to deepen relationships with peers.

Feeling connected with university supports students to deal with the experience of anonymity. New university students tend to feel anonymous as they come across lecture halls instead of the sixth form classes and they don’t have personal relationships with lecturers as they did in their former schools.

Thus, while being excited to join university, first year students may also be missing the familiar feeling they had with their previous school, including its physical facilities such as the library and the canteen. They may find it challenging to grow accustomed to university having multiple compound units. Students feel grounded when they take the time to become familiar with the university structures and some may use maps and guides to learn their way around campus.

Joining student organisations or study groups and becoming involved in activities can all enhance a smoother process into university life

When late adolescents enter university, they often experience an expansion of personal freedom as they become legal adults and are allowed to engage in activities which hitherto were not accessible or got them in trouble. Consequently they also have the responsibility to manage their own independence as they are in a position to choose whether or not to attend lectures, and to find a way to reach deadlines now that teachers will not be monitoring them as closely as they did in previous years. This unstructured environment may be overwhelming and some delay their anxiety by procrastinating tasks to the latest possible minute. Taking the time to identify new learning needs and to develop organisational skills is often key to learn how to achieve goals in an autonomous way.

Combined with the teething problems to get to grips with university life, some students might also be going through other pain in their lives such as bereavement, parental sickness, marital separation or because they form part of a minority group such as lesbian, gay or bisexual subgroups. The latter may be struggling with issues of shame around their sexuality, and those in the process of coming out often experience fear of rejection and exclusion. Even if they feel accepted by their immediate family, they may still be scared, sad or extremely anxious and consequently find it difficult to focus on their studies. In times of crisis, resorting to university counselling services or other means of professional help is vital for students in distress in order to cope when things are tough as well as to manage ­academic challenges.

The first year students cohort encompasses a number of young parents, as well as married, and mature students: these new undergraduates might find themselves juggling parenthood with university life and are likely to experience feelings of guilt around spending time away from their children so as to pursue their studies. Reaching out for the support of family and friends is essential for student-parents to blend study and home commitments as they go through the challenges of the first year, including perhaps several ­sleepless nights in order to study and write assignments.

There is no one size fits all solution around the transition to university life. Identifying personal strengths, academic challenges as well as the personal hardships pertaining to their life situation is vital for first year students to find their own ways of coping. To even out hard work with other aspects of life such as having fun and creating intimate relationships is often nourishing as university can be a meaningful experience which marks the passage between late adolescence and mature adulthood.