It's That Time of Year

Families often contact us around the semester breaks regarding their students’ need to stay in Clemson for Thanksgiving (SC game is Nov. 29) through winter break, or their students’ first opportunity to come home since they left for Clemson. To best answer any challenges or questions about your student’s experience, here are a few tips to consider as you prepare for their return:

It's important to discuss expectations before your student returns
home. Families typically look forward to sharing meals and stories, holiday shopping, visiting with family and friends, etc., whereas students typically like to sleep, eat home-cooked meals, hang out with friends, and, of course, spend time with you! Being on the same page about these topics early on will help to have a realistic expectation of the time your student will be home.
Be sure to discuss expectations about curfews. Your student has lived without a curfew for a while now; so if you impose a curfew, be prepared to negotiate rather than automatically reverting to their high school curfew.
Your student will be suprised that things have changed. They often expect their household to largely have remained the same, including their bedroom furniture, seating at the table, etc. If things are different around the house, try to communicate any changes in advance to avoid surprise or arguments due to fatigue and stress.
Your student is growing and maturing BUT they may regress when they get home and want you to care for them (prepare meals, do laundry, etc). Be sure to discuss those expectations and what is reasonable/unreasonable in your eyes.
Watch for signs of stress — academic, personal and financial. At Thanksgiving, students will likely express stress over final papers, projects or exams. Encourage them to use available resources on campus and engage in healthy eating, sleeping and exercise habits to reduce stress. If your student expresses personal concerns — making friends, getting connected, feeling a sense of belonging — please refer them to the Office of the Dean of Students. We’re happy to help them get connected to people and programs!

The break will fly by but don’t forget to show you care as they head back to campus. Think about small, positive reinforcements, like a personal note or a care package with some favorite treats from home!

Best Wishes,
From the Dean of Students Office and Healthy Campus

CLEMSON OPENS STUDENT VETERANS RESOURCE CENTER
Clemson University, with its long military heritage, recognizes the student veteran population is growing. To better aid our student veterans, we created a Student Veteran Resource Center, in which we held a formal ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 20 to mark a new era of service to our service men and women at Clemson University. Anyone interested in learning more about the services of our Veteran Resource Center, please contact us at cuvets@clemson.edu.

Promoting Health and Wellness

Counseling and Psychological Services
For first-year students, the novelty of being at Clemson University has now worn off and the reality of college life has taken a different turn. Students may be ready to enter the “home stretch” with confidence if they’re doing well, or if not, coming to terms with that reality. Parents can help their student focus on improving, but lecturing about bad choices made thus far is not helpful.

Here are a few tips to keep your student's overall wellness in check:

Pay particular attention to self-care as colds and stress-related illnesses may increase.
Healthy eating, exercise and sleep are musts.
Roommate and social relationship strain may increase as everyone is under stress.
Listen to your student and help them see the “big picture” to focus on the tasks at hand.
Going back to using a planner is critical in order to meet academic deadlines.

Most students have a group of friends at beginning of the semester. Friendships may undergo shifts as the students expand their connections. If a student has not formed friendships, this may be a particularly difficult period. Support your student by helping them remain in the here-and-now and make attempts to connect with even one person each day.

Pre-holiday worries may arise when planning for semester break. Help your student take a direct problem-solving approach. Once plans are made, return attention to the current demands. If your student is struggling with any of this, please have them reach out and make an appointment with our Counseling and Psychological Services.

How to Support Your College Student

The staff at the Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD) knows you are excited to spend time with your Clemson student as the holidays approach.

In-Person Career Counseling & Upcoming Events
Graduation Survey

Did you know - at the time of graduation:

49% of graduates have accepted or are considering a job offer,
21% are pursuing graduate/professional school.

Statistics such as these can be found in our graduation survey, so look out for the survey link if your student is preparing to graduate in December. It helps us gather important information on our students’ first destination after Clemson, including salary offers. Encourage your student to take the survey!

Interested in advertising opportunities to Clemson students?
- Deb Herman — Full- and Part-time Employment: dherman@clemson.edu
- Troy Nunamaker — Off-Campus Internships: tnunama@clemson.edu
- Dr. Jeff Neal — Cooperative Education: jfneal@clemson.edu

The CCPD believes in engaging students in career development and experiential learning activities that will empower them to successfully pursue their educational and professional goals. We look forward to your student taking advantage of everything we have to offer.

Clemson Home Corner

Winter Break Closing
University Housing & Dining closes at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014, for all residents, except graduating seniors. (Graduating seniors should speak with a Residential Life staff member to confirm approval to remain on campus through graduation.)

All residents leaving for Winter Break should

clean and vacuum/sweep,
remove all trash and recycling to designated areas,
unplug all electronic devices (except fish tanks and fridges),
set the thermostat to 65° F,
lock windows, close blinds, turn off all lights,
close and lock the door.

University Housing & Dining staff may enter residents’ rooms/apartments over the break period to complete inspections. Inspections are for the purpose of assessing the current condition of the space and/or to ensure that all electrical items are unplugged.

University Housing & Dining will reopen on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015, at 8 a.m.

For more information regarding Winter Break closing, including information for any resident who may have been approved to move assignments at semester, please visit our website and click on the purple bubble labeled “Winter Closing.”

Continuing Student Sign-Up
University Housing & Dining room and meal plan sign-up for 2015–16 will begin in January 2015. Residents who currently live on campus and would like to live with us again will need to complete a Housing contract and will then be able to select their room or apartment. More information will be posted on our website, as well as shared with residents via email, social media and print marketing materials.

Family Resources

November and December always tend to be a busy time of year for our students and families! We wanted to add a little easy and fun reading to see what one another thinks of this time of year. We polled students and families to hear some fun facts around the fall and winter!

Families are most thankful for:

Surviving another summer
Health
Less humidity
Tiger Football, of course
Fresh clean, crisp air
Family
The changing of the leaves (especially the orange ones!)
Our family's countless blessings

Students are most thankful for:

Heated buildings
My dogs
Family
Sweater and boots weather
Health
Home
Semester is almost over
Clemson football

PIE PREFERENCE — Apple vs. Pecan vs. Pumpkin
Students: Pumpkin (40%)
Families: Pumpkin (37%)

DURING THE HOLIDAY MEAL YOUR FAMILY IS — Laughing vs. Bickering
Students: Laughing (49%)
Families: Laughing (97%)

ON THANKSGIVING DAY YOUR FAMILY IS WATCHING — The Lions Game vs. The National Dog Show
Students: National Dog Show (61%)
Families: Lions Game (64%)

OVER THE WINTER BREAK YOUR FAMILY — Travels vs. Stays Home
Students: Stays Home (58%)
Families: Stays Home (71%)

DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING YOUR FAMILY IS — Black Friday Shopping vs. Watching Football vs. Sleeping In
Students: Watching Football (52%)
Families: Watching Football (43%)

FALL/WINTER Holiday Traditions:
We asked our students and families if they have any fall or winter traditions. Here are a few that were some of our staff favorites.

Student Answers:

Each year my family selects a senior person from our neighborhood to help the day before Thanksgiving. We go to their house as a family and completely overhaul their yard. We rake leaves, plant winter flowers and bring them special loaf of homemade pumpkin bread.
We dress up a wooden pig on our front porch for each different holiday.
We celebrate Dutch Christmas on Dec. 5. We put our clogs out for Sinterklass (St. Nicholas) and Zwarte Pieten (his helper) to come and fill them with treats! We also make special biscuit and sweets from the Dutch holiday traditions.
Thanksgiving is the best because there is lots of food and takes place in my parents’ house so there is no traveling. Oh, and the best part is we always do an Oyster Roast by a campfire.
We are from Czech descent, so we have some unique Christmas traditions. The men make crosses over the doorframes with chestnuts, and after we say grace and everyone sits down, the children race to the light switch and yell a phrase that translates into “good blessings for the New Year.” We cannot begin our meals until we make a cross on our foreheads with a slice of garlic, and then take a bite of it. This is followed by sauerkraut and potato soup and other foods for dinner.

Family Answers:

Our fall tradition as a family is to pick apples in the NC Mountains. Usually we enjoy fresh-picked apples as snacks or in pies, but the last few years we have begun to make our own apple butter.
Our family celebrates Thanksgiving in Charleston, S.C. On Thanksgiving morning we all, or most of us, run the Turkey Trot 5k through downtown. That is a really fun way to be active before eating our feast that afternoon. Then the day after Thanksgiving we all divide up into three teams and have a scavenger hunt for “fun things” in downtown Charleston. Each team has a driver and a list of items that they have to find and photograph. The team that gets the most things on the list and gets back within the hour time limit wins. No prizes, only bragging rights! It’s so fun that we have done this for 12 years in a row!
We all pile in a car and drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains from sun up to sun down to admire the fall colors. We then set up a spot and go hiking.
After all of the Thanksgiving celebration, the families come together the day after and enjoy a fish fry, which features boiled blue crab, seafood salad, fried whiting and fried shrimp!
Our family creates place cards for the table. Each place card is decorated with funny characters to represent each person’s behavior during the year. For example, I will print out a chief-inspired pilgrim with a very attractive turkey for my son-in-law or an Indian chief for my husband.

Mark Your Calendar

ACADEMIC RELATED DATES
To see more information on any of the dates listed below, please visit our Clemson University full calendar.
Nov. 26-28 — THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY BREAK
Dec. 1 — Last-Minute Tips for Finals Workshop
Dec. 2 — How to Narrow a Topic Workshop
Dec. 2 — It’s Not Over ‘til it’s Over Workshop
Dec. 2 — This is a Test … This is Only a Test
Dec. 3 — Speed Reading Workshop
Dec. 4 — Stress Management – Stress Release
Dec. 4 — Technical Writing Workshop
Dec. 8-12 — Final Exams
Dec. 17 — Candidates for graduation can access grades
Dec. 18 — Fall Commencement

OTHER ON CAMPUS IMPORTANT DATES
Nov. 16-23 — Big “Love” Performance
Nov. 26, Dec. 3 & 10 — Flu Shots
Nov. 22 — Clemson vs. Georgia State Football (Military Appreciation)
Nov. 23 — DuPont Mountain Biking
Nov. 23 — Clemson Volleyball vs. Wake Forest
Nov. 24 — Clemson University Symphonic Band
Nov. 19 — Clemson vs. Carolina Football (Senior Day)
Dec. 2 — Clemson University Symphony Orchestra
Dec. 4 — Clemson University Women’s and Men’s Glee Performance
Dec. 5 — Christmas with the Annie Moses Band
Dec. 13-18 — Steamboat Springs Ski Trip

QUESTIONS, COMMENTS or CONCERNS? Have things you would like to see in future issues? Please contact the New Student and Family Programs office at 864-656-0515 or by email at cufamilies@clemson.edu.