Starting University in the U.S.: Resources from a Third Culture Kid Coordinator

This blog is written by Kait Jones, CMF’s Third Culture Kid Coordinator  

I love my job as the TCK Care Coordinator here at CMF. Even more, I love who I get to serve in that job. One group of people that I have recently been asked to focus on and serve very intentionally is high school seniors transitioning to their freshman year of college. I was asked to do a mini seminar for one high school senior as he has not spent much time in the States, and his parents will be staying on the field and so will be unavailable to be there physically to help him with this transition. I was nervous! I care a lot and want each one of our TCKs to thrive.  

I also remember experiencing information overload when I was entering into college, and I did not want to be a source of stress for this TCK. So, I scoured the internet and my inbox, plus asked a few current attendees of the university I knew he was attending, as well as some of our other TCKs that are enrolled in different universities and have gone through this process more recently.  

What I found, other than just more confirmation that we truly have some of the best college aged TCKs in the world, are a few articles that were helpful for this student and hopefully will be helpful for you. I have attached the links to the articles, and I have deliberately kept this post shorter in hopes that you will actually click them and take the time to look through them together with someone that can help. I am also more than happy to help in any way that I can or connect you to someone that has the information you are seeking. The internet is a very helpful place, but after sitting with this student I realized there is so much power in even just knowing what to type into Google. Not everyone’s situations are the same, but some things remain consistent between these types of experiences.  

I would also recommend that you follow the organizations Global Trellis and A Life Overseas on social media and subscribe to their email updates. Each article may not be something that jumps out at you as helpful, but they have a lot of wisdom on a lot of different topics.

Check out these helpful articles: