When Your Heart Is Breaking Because Your Freshman Is Unhappy

Scrolling through my Facebook feed, I am inundated with posts of friends and acquaintances, dropping their sons and daughters off for their first year of college. I think back to a year ago, when I was doing the same. The excitement. The hopefulness. The nervous anticipation.

What unfolded in the weeks that followed was not what I’d expected—or what I’d heard to expect—of my child’s college experience. Our family’s “college transition story” is a little different than most. But important to s...