Adjusting to College Through the W Curve
As we all know, the adjustment to college can be tough for all. A new location, new friends and pretty much a new lifestyle. We all know the feeling of leaving our family for the first time and how hard it can be, then you adjust to the college lifestyle just to go back home for Thanksgiving and start the whole process again. There is actually a well-known diagram for this exact situation called the W Curve.
The W curve is a pattern that represents a person going through a culture shock. I first learned about this in my university studies class where our professor went through each stage describing the different emotions we might be feeling. I would say for me, I am in the adjustment stage now and have been there for a while. I adjusted to college pretty quickly and I am thankful for that. I know when I go home for Thanksgiving it will be tough to leave my family again and adjust back to college life, but I think it will be fun.
About the W Curve
The different parts of the graph include honeymoon, culture shock, recovery, adjustment, honeymoon at home, and reverse culture shock.
Honeymoon- The honeymoon phase is full of excitement, curiosity, trying new things, and stimulation. It is when you first arrive to a new place and are figuring out how everything works. You are most likely having a great time meeting new people and you think this is really what college will be like.
Personal Experience- I loved meeting my roommate and reconnecting with all my friends I met at orientation. I was pumped to live on my own and make decisions solely for myself.
Culture Shock- Next you move onto culture shock. Culture shock is when students might start their classes, start to miss their families, and realize what college is like in reality. This is when people often start to compare their expectations to the reality of what college is like.
Personal Experience- When I started my classed I quickly became overwhelmed and was scared that I wasn’t going to succeed in college. I compared my few college memories to my sisters experience and thought I was doing everything wrong.
Recovery- We then move into the recovery stage. The recovery stage is right after you get out of the culture shock and you start to feel at home and more comfortable. You are recovering from moving to a new place and meeting so many new people.
Personal Experience- In my experience, I went through the recovery stage fairly quickly. I settled into my friend group and found my close friends. I tried to call my parents a little less just to start to adjust in different ways.
Adjustment- Adjustment is when you are finally starting to adjust and feel like you belong at your college. You maybe have joined clubs you enjoy, made great connections with your friends or even just as simple as being used to having a roommate.
Personal Experience- I would definitely say I am in this stage now in college. I am adjusted to sharing my room, I have a great group of friends that I hangout with everyday and I am used to all my classes and am doing fairly well in all of them.
Honeymoon at Home- The honeymoon at home is when you go home for the first, second, or even tenth time and are reunited with your family, old friends and pets. You are so happy to be back at home and back in your “normal”.
Personal Experience- Although I have not gone home yet therefore I have not experienced this I am both looking forward to it as well as dreading it. I am so excited to see my family and my dog but I know after a quick five days I will be coming back to college. I absolutely love my life here but I do miss my family a lot.
Reverse Culture Shock- Lastly is reverse culture shock. This is when you go through all the first stages but in a quicker amount of time because you have done it all before. You have to get used to living with someone again, eating dining hall food or even getting used to school work.
All of these stages are good for personal growth and almost everyone goes through the W-Curve. If you ever feel lost or alone, just ask your friend about it, I’m sure they are going through the same stages around the same time.
Sources-
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/W-Curve-Adaptation-Model_fig1_340443260
