Set Goals
Set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) to maintain motivation and track progress.

Make smaller goals out of large milestones
Take the large, overwhelming homework and studying tasks and advise them to break them into smaller, bite-sized goals. If they have 50 pages to read, start with five at a time. If they have four pages of math homework, take them three questions at a time. By meeting the smaller goals faster, they’ll reach your larger milestone in no time.

Encourage Self-Reflection
Your student must first reflect on their strengths and weaknesses before setting any short- or long-term goals. Encourage your student to take some time to reflect on what they enjoy, what they are good at, and what they want to improve. This self-reflection will help them set achievable and meaningful goals.

The staff of the Counseling Center would like to share that we are continuing to see an increase in the number of appointments being made and attended by our students. In comparing numbers for the last 5 years, this past year (the 2022-2023 academic year) saw us surpassing the number of appointments made and attended since before the COVID pandemic occurred. This drives home for us that the mental health of our students continues to be impacted and needs to be prioritized to help them in being successful during their time here at Missouri Western. That’s where we come in. As the days continue to become shorter, colder, and darker, the Counseling Center is here to shine a bright light during the difficult times. 

The Missouri Western Counseling Center is looking forward to helping our students with a successful end to the semester. We encourage students to reach out if they have problems and want them to know that they’re not alone and we’re here to help!

Get to know your student

To you, it may seem like only a few short weeks since your student has been home for an extended period of time, but to them, it has been a lifetime. They have spent the last two months learning about themselves – their passions, their boundaries, and who they want to be as a person. The student that left at the end of August is not the one that will be coming home for fall break. Take some time to get to know your student. Spend time in conversation with them about how college is going. Encourage them to share the successes and challenges that they have had so far. Get to know them not only as your child but as a newly independent adult.

At the same time, don’t forget the person they were when they left. Do they have a favorite food, movie, or activity that you typically do together? Have some of their favorites prepared for them to help them see that while they have been busy growing and changing, you are always going to be there for them. You have their back, you understand and support them, and sometimes, you just want to make them their favorite breakfast.

Big feelings about coming home

Your student will likely have big feelings about coming home for their first extended break. They have found a sense of independence and may not feel like the rules that they had before they left should still apply. Now is the time to set new guidelines and boundaries for your student. They deserve more freedom, but you need to sit down with them and work together to establish new boundaries.

Let your student express their feelings and help support them through the process. You’re proud of what they have accomplished in these few short weeks and who they are becoming as a person. Don’t be afraid to share those feelings with them, and don’t be afraid to let them share their big feelings with you, too.

Looming deadlines and finals

Fall break comes late in the semester. Your student will return to classes on November 27, then two short weeks later they will have their first college finals week. This is a stressful time for students. They are working on final projects and papers and studying as much as they can to do well on their finals.

You may be a family who is used to spending multiple days at family members’ homes celebrating Thanksgiving. Your student may come to you and tell you that they just don’t have time to go visiting, or that they have to bring their books and computer with them. They are not lying. They have a lot of work to do, and while they are technically on fall break, it is not necessarily going to be a week without schoolwork. Give them the space they need to succeed and don’t accidentally make them feel guilty for not being able to participate in as many family activities as they have in previous years.

Fall break should be a fun time for family connection. This is the first chance you have to get to know your young adult after they have spent time away. They are still in the process of growing, changing, and setting goals and boundaries for themselves. Use fall break to reconnect with your student, enjoy time together as a family, and show them how proud you are of everything they are working to accomplish in life.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) needs to be completed each year that a student will be attending college. The FAFSA normally opens October 1st each year and completing the FAFSA by February 1st can help students to apply for the maximum amount of aid. This year there are some big changes coming to the FAFSA and because of this, the opening of the 2024-25 FAFSA has been moved to December. You can visit missouriwestern.edu/finaid/fafsa-changes/ to see some of the changes happening. 

Missouri Western has a general scholarship application that is open from October 1 to February 1 each year. Students complete one application for all Missouri Western competitive scholarships. Winter break can be a great time to work on the scholarship application for the 2024-25 award year. 

When scholarships and grants aren’t enough to cover all of the costs to attend school, students might borrow student loans to help. It’s important for students to think about how much they have borrowed and what payments will look like once repayment begins. Students can use the Loan Simulator on to see what their payments might look like with their current loan debt or simulate what borrowing more loans may look like. 

While there are income-based repayment options for borrowers that cannot afford their monthly loan payment, it is always a good idea to think of ways to reduce debt. Options that could help include completing the FAFSA and scholarship applications as early as possible to meet any priority deadlines, looking for private scholarships, or even working over the summer and using the earnings to help pay for school. There is no one size fits all way to reduce debt; students should think about their individual situation and what could work for them.  

Knowledge is power when it comes to financial wellness. Students can help set themselves up for financial success by learning as much as possible about how to get financially fit. To learn more about financial wellness, students can go to and log in using access code GRIFFON360.