The unusual, unprecedented 2020–2021 school year is behind us. The brave and bold Class of 2021 has graduated. And soon, we hope, the pandemic will be behind us, too, at least here in the United States.

At colleges and universities nationwide, we’re all getting ready to return to school for a “normal” fall semester. But I’m growing increasingly concerned that the new semester will be anything but normal for many students.

I’m worried about student mental health.

This isn’t a new concern. A growing body of research and data, collected even before the pandemic, makes it clear that there has been a growing mental health crisis on college campuses. College counseling centers were seeing ever-increasing demands for their services. Students were reporting high rates of anxiety and depression.

Through the height of the pandemic, the crisis grew even worse. Students’ lives were upended. Classes moved remote, and students moved home. Students watched family members and friends get sick, lose jobs, even lose their lives. Some got sick or lost jobs themselves. The world shut down. Even those students who stayed healthy confronted isolation. Some struggled to find quiet places for work or reflection, some with reliable internet. We also faced a national reckoning on racial and social justice.

One study found that depression symptoms tripled among American adults, including college students.

Now the world is opening back up. But these exacerbated mental health challenges will linger. I recently moderated a panel with several prominent leaders of healthcare organizations in New York City, and they all said that a primary concern was addressing the mental health needs of their employees and communities.

Like those leaders, I’m worried that our students will face lasting impacts from a year without socialization, from a year of devastation, from so much unprocessed grief.

But this summer is an opportunity. As we start to move back toward normal, I’m thinking about the things we do now to ensure that students are ready to learn next year. And it comes back to the guidance we’ve always given: We need to make sure our students are ready to learn by making sure they’re supported, resilient, and prepared to succeed.

First, we all need to prioritize students’ mental health. Whether they’re graduating from high school and preparing to enroll in college next fall, or if they took some time off, or even if they’ve just finished a remote or hybrid year of college and are preparing to return to in-person instruction in the fall, now is the time to help students think about the year they’ve been through and the challenges ahead in college. Conversations with professionals can be helpful. But so can thoughtful, clear-eyed discussions with friends and family.

If students have been under a professional’s care, now is the time to start making plans for how that therapy or other assistance will continue once college starts in the fall. Do you need to find a local caregiver near the college? Can teletherapy help? There are many ways care can continue; the key is to be prepared for the move. The director of our Counseling Center, Richard Shadick, PhD, advises against making any substantive changes to a student’s treatment plan in the first year of school—that is, if possible, sticking with what’s been working.

More than that, all students, and especially those heading to college for the first time, should use the summer to build their resilience. That’s the ability to recognize and withstand or respond to the challenges that present themselves in life. It’s the key for all of us in maintaining our mental health.

The American Psychological Association recommends several ways people can work to build their resilience. The most important ones include:

●     Having a strong network of supportive people who will listen to your problems.

●     Working toward goals by focusing on small steps. Moving forward toward a solution will remind you that you have control over what’s happening.

●     Developing self-confidence. The more you’re able to bounce back from setbacks, the more you’ll know that you’ll be able to do it the next time you face a hurdle.

I believe all college students benefit from working on their life skills, which in turn promote resilience. They must build good habits that support successful living: eating regularly, exercising, and getting enough sleep. They should learn to keep things in perspective, especially social media. Bad things happen, and likes are nice, but we all do best when we learn not to focus on negativity, when we learn how to get on with life despite challenges or setbacks.

I also think parents and families have a role to play. Especially after this year, you can spend the summer making sure your students are ready for life on their own. Make sure they know how to cook for themselves, do laundry, and manage their money. Make sure they’ll have the support they need, even for practical matters.

Finally, we must also recognize the additional burdens placed on students from underrepresented groups during this last year. Over the last year, I joined a task force at The Steve Fund, a group focused on supporting mental health for young people of color, that looked for ways to mitigate the mental health impact of the pandemic on students of color. Our findings echoed the same recommendations: Integrating mental health support for students of color in a holistic way and empathizing with the challenges and traumas they face.

A recent symposium we co-hosted with AHRC New York City, devoted to supporting people with disabilities, also noted that the pandemic has had some of its most profound effects on communities that were already marginalized, and that we must all be cognizant of those challenges and provide support to help overcome them.

Ultimately, next year’s incoming students will be embarking on college in circumstances unlike nearly any that have come before. We truly cannot wait to see them—in person!—and I’m sure they can’t wait to get back to school. It’s up to all of us to ensure they succeed once they’re here.