Students in Shock Summary

Summary: “Students in Shock” By John Kellmayer The essay of John Kellmayers’ “Students in Shock” gives us examples of college students who are overwhelmed by the college experience. Kellmayer shows three very specific issues that cause many of us, who attend college, to go into the “Shock” noted in the essay. Those are financial issues, family support issues, and the choosing of a major (with too many options) issue. Let’s face it. COLLEGE IS EXPENSIVE! So there is bound to be financial issues. Kellmayer tells us his essay of this is worse now than it has been in truly a long time. Almost every student has to balance work with school to pay for attending. Since money is tight everywhere it is much more difficult to get any help from others in the paying for it; such as federal aid and college loans. Tuition has gone up drastically as well. Kellmayer, also, gives us a description of how our newer generations are suffering in the family support area than the earlier ones. The “family” is far from a stable environment anymore. Kellmayer tells us lack of structure at home makes the already uneasy transition even more difficult for a college student.
The description of the final “shock” is of the large number of majors. There are so many options, yet, there are little amount of job openings after graduation. Switching add to the price of college as well. The price adds the dropout rate of college students. He considers this as a source of depression in many students as well as part of the added financial issues.
He gives two examples of students, Lisa and Dan, who are in shock by all the stress that comes with college. One has to deal with the major switching issue, as well as, working nights and weekends just to keep. He is depressed and now has migraine issues. Dan thinks he may need a counselors help. Lisa, the other student, is “miserable”. She is maintain TWO part-time jobs. Kellmayer goes on about how she is suffering from sleeping and eating disorders.
In the end Kellmayer tells us there is no miracle for this shock but the colleges are making great strides towards helping out the students with this issue. Counseling is services are given to everyone to help out with the big decisions. This helps in a MAJOR way with the choosing of MAJORS. He then shares that the experience is one we do not face alone, and we are not unique in this specific area because many are going through it as well.

Kellmayer, John. 1989