Parent Aspirations & Apprehensions: Class of 2014

What are parents worried about, and what are their hopes for the students they will send off to Franklin Pierce in the fall of 2010? The Center for Academic Excellence had the opportunity to talk to a group of parents from the class of 2014. We asked them to write their aspirations and apprehensions on slips of paper and we answered as many as we could, but there were many more. Some are touching, some are wry, and some are real stumpers! We’re posting them here so that families can learn from and about each other, and so that faculty and staff can respond with their thoughts and advice.
2010-11 Parent Aspirations
• My late bloomer blooms! (Academically)
• I hope she gets involved with other students and activities. I hope she enjoys her experience
• That she will focus on her studies
• See the need and value of academic excellence in preparing him for a future
• I hope my daughter will make good choices!
• I hope my son is successful and gains confidence in himself
• I hope my son finds a field of study he is passionate about and is fully engaged
• My child will have a great year
• Finds a career path
• Completes work on time for all classes
• For him to find his passion
• That he enjoys college and does well as he is capable
• That she receives advising that will guide her, what courses to take to lead her to her goal.
• 4.0 GPA
• That he fully enjoys the experience
• Hope she will be able to be successful in the major she chooses and doesn’t have to settle for something else.
• To enjoy the whole experience
• To have a positive experience
• I wish for my student to have a great experience
• He will find his niche, something that really inspires him academically
• To succeed
• To enjoy learning to be successful in her studies
• Would like to see her becoming more outgoing and be involved
• To fulfill her dreams
• His personal best academically and socially
• Instill confidence
• Friendships she will make. Gets along well with others lifelong friendships
• My wish is for my son to find his potential, to feel fulfilled by his classes, teachers, and peers. To be challenged mentally and to rise to that challenge
• To manage to complete her major and two minors she has chosen
• I hope my daughter learns to trust her decisions and stop second guessing herself
• Graduate
• To gain life experience and continue on with the journey of learning
• I hope my daughter has a good 4 years of college and will be successful after
• I hope my son finds a passion in learning
• Take advantage of all resources available to them
• I want him to dive in and take advantage of all opportunities and branch out in many directions
• Hoping that my daughter will enjoy her 1st year in college at Franklin Pierce
• That he will complete the double major he is attempting
• Health, growth, grades and career with good $$ potential
• To be as successful as possible; to follow dreams and believe in self
• Become well adjusted and enjoy the Franklin Pierce experience while here
• To enjoy the experience
• That she will be happy and successful
• As a parents of an undecided major student, my hope is that he follows his passion and finds that “perfect” career path for himself
• Hope that he will utilize his time well and prepare for classes
• To be successful and happy and not have any worries
• My son will work hard and apply himself
• My hope is for my child to embrace the college experience; learn , live and develop friendships he will always have
• I hope that my daughter will learn to stay focused and be able to concentrate enough to read and remember what she reads
• I hope he realizes the effort he puts forth will payoff in the future
• She will continue to perform at an above average level
• To be academically successful within her Fine Arts Major; to meet and make good friends. To be happy!
• Will thrive on own
• Graduate with honors
• Will nourish flourish both academically and with sports
• To be successful in her major (art) and glass blowing ; to go as far as she can in business
• To become more independent and to grow
• My child’s college career will be successful and a great experience
• We hope she gets involved in things outside of her comfort zone
• I hope he becomes inspired
• To be happy
• She develops skills that will prepare her for the challenges that she will face in the real world
• That my daughter will grow in her confidence
• I hope my daughter is comfortable in her settings
• That she will successfully transition from a very small high school into college and continue making effective academic achievement
• Wanting to fit in with the other students
• Makes nice friendships
• Decided to commit to major and career path
• Hope that my daughter will follow through on what she’s about to start on at Franklin Pierce and graduate
• I hope my daughter will find a sense of feeling and a 2nd home in which to learn and find her place in life
• We hope our son grows more independent and achieves more confidence in himself
• He meets his goals and dreams to success in all his future endeavors
• I hope my daughter continues to value her school work so she can continue her current success
• That she learns to do things for herself and realize when she truly needs help and peeks in
• My wish for my child is that she becomes a well rounded educated student, but that she also enjoys the journey along the way
• I hope my child is successful in and out of the classroom
• My hope is that my son finds a happy medium between academics and sports
• Excel at his chosen major, whatever that may be and be happy! Get involved in the college life.
• To get good grades, enjoy the subject matter, and feel like a success when she completes something
• That he has all the help to be successful in his career choice
• To be able to finish school
• We aspire for our daughter to be successful and happy with any life’s courses she may make
• My child will ask for help before its too late
• That he will be successful with his academics and with making new friendships
• Succeed on goal course
• That she adjusts as well in college as she did in high school
• Be able to operate successfully with confidence throughout the semester
• My hope is for my child to enjoy college experience and succeeds academically
• I hope she continues on the high academic path she has maintained for 4 years in H.S.
• Graduation
• Our hope is to have our daughter become a well educated young lady who will success in her life, become independent
• Graduation
• Hope that she stays involved with school and completes her homework
• I hope my daughter is as successful at FP as she was in HS
• The college experience to be four years of learning, growing, and becoming a well rounded adult
• I hope he stays focused and organized
• Flourish and grow wise
• My hope is that her choice of major is what she will always love and strive for excellence in
• I hope he can do the work easily, and will ask for and get help from other classmates and teachers
• Will become enlightened to the pursuit of knowledge and a way of life, not just something that needs to be done for 4 years
• Would like him to make the all-academic conference baseball team
• My hope is for my daughter to thoroughly enjoy her college experience and to meet some great trusted friends
• Develop better study skills and habits
• Hope she will take advantage of everything tat is offered. Both academically and socially
• Will learn to manage his time and seek assistance when needed
2010-2011 Parent Concerns
• Need something and not know how to get it, procrastination, and falling behind in academics while pursuing social
• My concern is that my daughter may get overwhelmed academically and not take advantage of all the extra curricular activities etc.
• My child walks into the learning center, sees to many people and walks away, but they know they need help. How so you stop them?
• He may be to involve in the outdoor adventure programs. activities and not be as focused on his studies as I desire
• Cut cell phone/facebook use – does it naturally decline once on campus?
• That he perseveres through initial struggles in his studies. That he seeks help when needed.
• I am concerned that my son will not be able to manage his time and workload. I hope he will recognize that he may need extra help before it is too late in the semester
• Concerned about time management
• For my son to realize his potential and not to do just enough to get by
• I’m concerned that my daughter will not seek out advising in choosing courses that will get her through her major
• Falling behind with work in some or all classes
• Who’s going to make sure he’s going to class and doing homework
• Will he ask for the help he needs
• She will not be able to function independently
• That he will do the assigned homework and study for tests without parent checking on him
• Loosing oneself
• Will be overwhelmed by work load and disengage
• Not to feel overwhelmed
• Ii am worried the work will be to difficult
• He won’t seek off help early on if he needs it, i.e. may be to late
• That she gets assistance if she is struggling in a subject
• That my son will not take advantage of all the support services available.
• He may believe he can’t succeed
• Able to maintain GPA that he deems his best and that he meets scholarship criterion
• Concerned about commitment to put in effort needed\
• Outside issues getting in way of progress
• That he will not recognize when he is getting into trouble academically and will not seek out help
• Don’t want my daughter to be just a number. Class sizes to ten’s have people “fall through the crack.”
• Homesick
• Hope she gets away from spending too much time on the computer and joins extracurricular groups
• That my son will feel overwhelmed and isolated
• I am concerned that my son will feel lost and become withdrawn
• She will be able to balance academics, work study and extra curricular activities
• Tutors available if needed
• Loss of interest and loss of motivation
• Concerned that strong opinions will leas to conflict, needs resolution skills
• I am concerned about him independently juggling his coursework and turning assignments in on time
• Will my daughter have a smooth transition from High School to college?
• Concerned that computer/texting will interfere with sleep which will effect learning
• I am concerned about him fitting in and finding friends
• That she is too shy, not outgoing enough
• Texting, texting, texting, will she ever stop?
• Will be overwhelmed and not seek help
• Find the program challenging and prepare her for graduate studies
• That she will fall through the cracks because she was not coded and her failures at certain tasks will follow her because of this.
• That she will seek help if she needs it and accept that it is ok
• Failure and I have to support her for the rest of my life
• To make good choices
• She will go to somebody of authority if she has any problems or concerns
• Time management
• Are parents notified if student is failing or do we just wait to see report card?
• Are students allowed longer testing time or alternative testing; if issues arise with the student?
• My concern is about wild parties
• Too hard on oneself
• Our concern is that our son will not try new things – keep an open mind
• She’s leaving a boyfriend behind, Hope this doesn’t interfere with her ability to embrace the college experience
• That he feels overwhelmed with having no direction. He is feeling stressed about not knowing what major to follow
• That he won’t ask for help soon enough and start to feel overwhelmed
• Handling time management, also being afraid to ask for help
• The freedom of being on his own; studies may suffer
• Goof off to much
• That he wont join into activities and try new things
• Afraid he will not do the required work outside of class
• Worry that the campus is to isolated; need a change of scenery to keep a healthy balance of work and play
• That my child’s adjustment to college will be pretty easy and relaxed
• Managing time without having us to encourage her to do so
• He has learning disabilities when he was younger, had mild speech problems when he was a toddler, had an IEP in elementary school and struggled to pass classes; I’m afraid the problems will surface again
• That he/she will realize they need help and wait to long to ask
• Will be too embarrassed to ask for help
• Socialize to much and not study enough
• To make sure playing sports doesn’t take away from academics and she sill have a good balance
• Seeks help when needed!
• My concern is that my son is not a self starter. How can Franklin Pierce help to engage and motivate my son academically?
• Is able to keep up with his academics and also seeks help
• Worried about passing test
• I’m concerned about her doubting herself
• Drop out
• I am concerned about his time management and organizational skills
• Failure to get involved
• Will be overwhelmed
• She will not remain focused
• Asking for help when he needs it. Will professors encourage this?
• That she is able to balance academics and athletics without academics falling below her now
• I worry that my daughter may sleep through her early morning classes. (The afternoon ones should be fine!)
• Allows himself to do just enough work in excelling
• How would I know how my child is doing academically before final grades?
• Campus safety, and falling behind academically
• Time management
• Focus on having fun and stick to goals. Always ask for help early on!
• My concern is that my daughter will be bored because FP is fairly isolated
• My concerns are drinking
• I hope she doesn’t get bogged down or stressed out or fall behind
• Difficulty adjusting to being away. My concern is that my child will have difficulty being away from boyfriend
• My child won’t ask for help before its too late
• Being able to stay focused and organized due to some ADD issues
• Problems with classes due to unstructured parent free environment
• To be able to survive in school and be able to work too
• Will not participate fully in college and academic life and miss something in life that are very important
• I want my daughter to learn interdependence and be able to embrace the new phase of her life
• That she will not stay in her room, that she gets out and a bout
• My concern is that my daughter will not spend enough time on school work/academics
• That she wont make new friends because she already knows 1 person here
• My concern is that my student concentrates on having more fun than studying
• Not maintaining scholarship requirements
• My daughter will give up if she gut’s behind or that she may get caught up in partying or the wrong crowd
• I worry that she wont like the major she’s chosen
• Not achieving academic success
• Fear of having too much free time