Themes of security and opportunity are readily apparent in descriptions of programs designed to assist new students with their college transition; yet it seems that anxiety and, to some extent, fear are even more prevalent in the messages communicated to new students as they embark on their collegiate career. All college and university students deserve to be supported through their initial months of higher education with thoughtful programming designed to prepare them equally well for academic and social challenges that they may experience in their first year. It is good that these programs no longer reflect higher education's elitist heritage, yet institutions must guard against perpetuating the notion that the collegiate experience is ridden with anxiety. Perhaps institutions can begin to reconsider their new student programming by evaluating the proportion of time devoted in these programs to legal mandates and other campus life issues in comparison with such things as academic advising. Without shielding students and their families from the sometimes harsh realities of campus life, the prevailing theme during the transition to college should be that the college and university years are a time of wonder. (Contains 4 notes.)