10 Ways to Support Your ECU Freshman
- Send newspaper clippings from the hometown paper to their residence hall mailbox - everyone loves "real" mail!
- Visit them at ECU and take them out to dinner or for a little shopping; invite their friends or roommate to join you!
- Learn how to use email, and email your student a story about their brother/sister/pet once a week. Don't be surprised if you don't hear back for a while, but know they appreciate it anyway.
- Encourage them to get tickets for an event on campus or in Ada that the whole family can enjoy together.
- Remind them that it's ok not to have all the answers all the time.
- Create a scrapbook of their emails and notes to home and give it to them at the end of their first year at ECU to remind them of all their accomplishments.
- Remind them that there's someone at ECU who can help them, and encourage them to seek out that someone on their own.
- Remember that a student calendar may run from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. . . don't expect them to keep the same hours they did at home.
- Read university and student publications from ECU and Ada online to keep up with events that are available.
- After the first semester, ask your ECU student what his or her favorite class was, and why.
