This month we have an actual blog written by Kelly Briggs, First Year College Advisor at Great Basin College (GBC).
As May arrives, we find ourselves at the other end of a cycle we know so well. In August, I wrote about the beginning of the school year as “the most wonderful time”—a season of hope, structure, and possibility. Now, we stand in a very different moment: one defined not by beginnings, but by endings.
But as Schlossberg’s Transition Theory reminds us, endings are never just endings. They are transitions—spaces filled with uncertainty, where one chapter closes and another has not quite begun.
For many students, the end of the school year brings excitement. There is pride in what they’ve accomplished and anticipation for what comes next. For others, this time can feel unsettling. The routines, relationships, and supports they relied on during the school year begin to fade, replaced by a question mark. What now?
This uncertainty is not something to fix—it is something to understand.
Schlossberg describes transitions through four key factors: situation, self, support, and strategies. At the end of the school year, the “situation” shifts dramatically. Daily schedules disappear. Familiar faces scatter. Expectations change. Students are left to rely more heavily on their “self”—their resilience, confidence, and sense of identity—while navigating what comes next.
This is where support matters most.
Programs like ours play a critical role in helping students build both “support” and “strategies.” Whether it’s guidance through college access, encouragement during moments of doubt, or simply being a consistent presence, we help students navigate the uncertainty rather than fear it.
And just like in August, this moment can be both the best of times and the worst of times.
Some students are stepping into futures they’ve worked hard to reach. Others are stepping into the unknown without a clear path. Many are feeling both at once—excited and anxious, proud and unsure. That mix of emotions is not a contradiction; it is the reality of transition.
If August asks us to notice how students enter our classrooms, May asks us to consider how they leave them.
Do they feel prepared? Supported? Seen?
We may not be able to remove the uncertainty they face, but we can help them build the tools to move through it. And in doing so, we become part of their transition—not just at the beginning of the year, but at the end as well.
