CASE STUDY 2
Alex( 18) lived with their mum and sister. Alex’ s parents divorced before college. They found this life change very difficult and still experience high levels of anxiety which affect their attendance and performance at college. Alex is also a non-binary student who is very involved with LGBTQIA + rights and the political society at the college.
SITUATION
Alex has approached the wellbeing services and said that they are no longer living at home after a fall out with their parents.
They are worried about how to finance university as their parents are refusing to speak to them which is really upsetting.
Alex lives in the South East but wants to go to university in the North to distance themselves from their family.
QUESTIONS
Staff at the college have flagged that during the politics society meetings Alex has said they had a big fall out with their mum and stepdad after a discussion about LGBTQIA + rights and that they made homophobic and inappropriate comments. Since then, this is all Alex wants to discuss at the society meetings and often gets distressed when talking about it. The politics society tutor suggested Alex speak to the wellbeing services as they were concerned about them.
Alex has approached the wellbeing services to discuss going to university. They are worried it will be too difficult without parental support to pay the fees, and without having somewhere to live. Will the university understand their circumstances? Is there someone at the college they can talk to about applying to university who understands what it’ s like being LGBTQIA + or without family support? Have others in similar situations like Alex managed to get to university and are they doing well?
1. If this student came to you, how might you recognize they are estranged?
2. What would you do next in your role?
3. What are the gaps of support in your organisation?
Case Study UCP Estranged Students CPD August 2022