My son is a senior as well, and I can't believe how quickly his college days are passing by. Although three years have passed, it seems like yesterday that we dropped him off for the first time. His time there has been a positive one overall, even though there have been hills and valleys along the way. You never know what's going to happen in a career -- issues can pop up that range from academics to rooming situations to playing time to injuries -- but that's which makes the experience so rich. This is how your student and player learns to fend for himself and develop as a person, and this is where the control levers move from the parents to the kids.
We've been lucky in many ways. He's still at his original school -- many of his high school and travel teammates have switched once or twice -- and he still really enjoys it: the program, his teammates, the classes, the professors, the campus. Sure, there have been a few frustrations, but he's grown up so much learning to handle his own life and career, from his academic workload to playing summer ball to doing an internship. And he's on track to graduate next May.
I would tell freshman parents to relax and let your sons find their own way. Your support should remain steadfast, even if things don't always go perfectly on the field or off. But it helps him to know that you're behind him. Now that my son's a senior, he's trying to help new freshmen adjust just as some of the former players helped him.
As the lifting and skill work switches over to the fall practice stage in a week, he's ready to do it one last time. I can't wait to watch him.