Exploring Benefits, Challenges, and Support for College Students

This presentation examines the multifaceted experience of college students, exploring the advantages of higher education, such as career opportunities and personal growth, while also acknowledging the significant challenges students face, including homesickness, time management issues, mental health concerns, and financial burdens. It highlights the crucial role of support systems, such as those provided by Waltham International College, including student welfare teams, language support, library resources, professional staff, healthcare, and mental health services. The presentation emphasizes the importance of equality, support for students with disabilities, and the availability of confidential support through services like the Samaritans. The presentation also provides a detailed overview of the challenges faced by college students, including homesickness, transitioning to college life, time management, health issues, mental health and depression, managing budgets and debt, and the impact of friendships and relationships. The presentation concludes with the benefits and support given by Waltham International College to students.

Component 2 Group
Presentation

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Benefits of university students.....................................................................................................3
Challenges faced by college students..........................................................................................4
Benefits and support given by Waltham International College to students.................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

Benefits of university students
There are several benefits of going to college. Be it in terms of education, career or even the
student’s personal growth. Some of these benefits are-
 College tends to be helpful for the students to try out and experience many different things which
help them discover their interests within the walls of the classroom and beyond that too. This
helps the students to understand in which subject they have interest in and can focus their career
in.
 College degrees have become a basic requirement for most of the jobs these days. Specialisation
in various fields also improves your prospects of being hired. Degrees also help you get higher
potential earnings(Shermeyer, Morrow and Mediate, 2019)
 College education also enhances the skills both in academic terms and personal skills too.
Courses provided in colleges tend to improve one’s hard skills as well as the soft skills that can
be helpful in real life along with their career. Time management and the competencies learnt
from the college experience aids in their personal development too.
 Colleges also provide opportunities for the students to excel in various sports and they represent
their colleges in various tournament and competitions which also helps them in excelling their
career in these sports if they are interested in.
 Students with college degrees tend to have better job satisfaction and security as they also get
better benefits from their employers.
 Better career opportunities and higher potential income offers stability to the students as well as
their families as they can be better off economically as well as socially.
 Students get to meet various new people and interacting with them helps them in networking
with many potential people.
 College students also get various offers and discounts on online sites or tourist places, museums,
theatres, etc.
 College students also get discounts of laptops, computers and are also offered freebies(Benefits
to college students, 2022).
 Colleges also offer health plans to the students which makes it convenient for the students to get
health-related benefits.
 There are also several student advantage programs that offer great discounts to the students on
tickets, magazine subscription and many other things.

Challenges faced by college students
There are many challenges that a college student has to face. Some of these major challenges
are-
 Homesickness
At times, students have to move away from home in order to pursue higher studies. Thus, it
makes them homesick. Even though, they meet a lot of new people and also might have new
friends, but the absence of family, old friends and even their own home and bed can cause them
homesick(Goldman, Heddy and Cavazos, 2022).
 Transition to college life
The transition from high school life to college time can also be a bit difficult for some students at
times. The pressure increases with the increase in difficulty in classes, studies. The
responsibilities of the students are also increased.
 Time Management
With the increased responsibilities and pressure, time management becomes a great challenge for
the students. Staying on top of it all by efficiently managing time becomes really difficult.
 Health Issues
Students generally become more stressed due to increased pressure which also causes lack of
sleep. They do not really take care of themselves as they are already busy managing other things
in their life. This can have severe impact on their health and makes them prone to various
diseases.
 Mental health and Depression
Almost every challenge that the student faces, lead to their emotional lows and raises their stress
level. To overcome this, the students try to find various sources of relief, partying being one of
them. This only provides temporary relief and if accompanied with drugs and alcohol, it can
prove really bad for their mental health in the long run. Being away from the family adds to their
loneliness which can make them even more stressed. All this causes depression and anxiety
among the students which not only affects their mental health, but also has a great impact on
their physical health too. This also has negatively effects on their studies and academic
performance(Challenges for college students, 2022).

 Managing budgets and Debt
The fees and other expenses to be incurred by the students during college are rising at an
alarming rate. The students have to incur various costs during their college education which
includes the tuition fees, costs of meals, accommodation, transportation, supplies and many other
additional costs. They either take loans, which are to be paid during or after their education or
take jobs along with studying. Both of these create extra burden on the students and can become
very challenging to cope with.
 Friendships and relationships
As the students meet new people and have new experiences very often during their college days,
it is natural for them to have new friendships or even romantic relationships. This can hamper
their studies and morale if they do not choose their company wisely. Fights and conflicts with
friends or even Break-ups can cause them to lose their focus and motivation.
 Other problems
There are many other challenges and issues faced by the university students other than the ones
mentioned above like eating problems as they might not get their home-cooked food or the food
they get in the college of mess is not upto the mark or does not suit their taste.
Some other problems can be regarding adjusting with the new people especially the roommates
as no one can get along with everyone they meet. If they have issues adjusting with their
roommates, this can also become emotional issues for them.
Students also face social problems in terms of making new friends and building community as
spending time with others may sometimes lead to conflicts and can become a distraction for
them(Challenges for college students, 2022).
Problems related to discrimination or injustice is reduced to a great extent but is still underlying
somewhere hidden. Students might also have to face such issues by other students.
High Expectations of families and other people can also become troublesome for the students
and can lead to stress and anxiety.
They also tend to lose confidence and self-esteem due to all these issues and challenges.
Benefits and support given by Waltham International College to students
Waltham International College provides support to the students to meet most of their needs be it
in terms of education, career or even their personal issues. The college provides us with

programs and services to address students’ issues and problems. Some of the services provided
to us as students and how these has helped us are-
 The student welfare team is assigned to support the students for various non-academic issues and
also one-on-one interactions are provided to the students that have helped them in resolving our
issues related to funds, finance and money management.
 The students who have a problem understanding the English language are helped by offering
courses during their time in the college.
 The library resources provided by the college helps us in having access to a wide variety of
books, articles, journals and all other material necessary for the studies and also for enhancing
our skills(Support available for WIC students, 2022).
 The professional staff provides training and helps us to understand everything thoroughly. This
helps us to gain effective knowledge on the subject matter without any difficulties.
 There are many healthcare providers and doctors near our college that helps us to feel secure
regarding our health and the college also takes care of the safety of us.
 Our college also provides services for mental health and wellbeing of the students where in the
students who are experiencing personal difficulties, are feeling lonely or are having difficult time
adjusting with the college life, get short term support and advices. The advisors even help to find
a counsellor if a student seeks help. The students can avail the advisors’ help according to their
convenience as there are several appointment days and times available for them. The college also
takes care of the confidentiality of it and provides this service as free.
 The college also ensure equality among the students and thus the students feel secure and are
satisfied as there is no discrimination among us and equal opportunities are given to everyone.
The college also respects the diversity of the staff and the students.
 Students with disabilities or dyslexia also get utmost support from the college as the required
information and advices about disabilities, mental health conditions or even dyslexia including
other learning difficulties is given. Also, personalised services and facilities are offered to meet
the students’ individual needs.
 Samaritans are also available everytime who help the students by providing confidential support
to students in times of crisis or when they feel despair or suicidal.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Shermeyer, L., Morrow, M. T., & Mediate, N. (2019). College students' daily coping, mood,
and quality of life: Benefits of problem‐focused engagement. Stress and Health. 35(2). 211-
216.
Goldman, J., Heddy, B. C., & Cavazos, J. (2022). First-generation college students’ academic
challenges understood through the lens of expectancy value theory in an introductory
psychology course. Teaching of Psychology. 49(1). 37-48.
Online
Benefits to college students. 2022. Available through:<
https://www.educationcorner.com/benefit-of-earning-a-college-degree.html>
Challenges for college students. 2022. Available through:<
https://owlcation.com/academia/common-problems-for-college-students>
Challenges for college students. 2022. Available through:<
https://ab.edu/counseling-services/common-issues-for-college-students/>
Support available for WIC students. 2022. Available through:<
https://walthamintcollege.ac.uk/student-services.html>
.