A study was conducted at John Abbott College in Quebec to determine the frequency and intensity of life-change events that had occurred in women's lives in the two-year period prior to college entry and their impact on the women's participation in the college. It was hoped that such information could be used to design intervention strategies at earlier times, offering additional varieties of academic and support programs, and designing a curriculum that would be more relevant and meaningful to this new group of students. The population for the study was composed of women volunteers from the college's several-years-old Adult Learner's Program and its Intensive French Program. These women completed a questionnaire, the Schedule of Recent Experience (SRE), and 20 women were selected from the group for in-depth interviews because of their high stress scores. Data gathered showed that although the occurrence of a number of life-change events had been reported on the SRE by the group of returning women students, these events either did not appear to represent the most significant life events, did not occur at all, or did not occur in the two-year period prior to re-entry. Some events, such as death or divorce, were reported, but they seemed to serve as long-term motivating factors coupled with the women's perception of the need for personal growth and preparation for employment as they faced the future after finishing their maternal role. One life event triggering reentry for several women, however, was moving or having someone close to them move. The women surveyed said that attendance in the two-year college program was a rewarding personal growth experience. (KC)