First time in the University: Turning points in the academic lives of students at an education department
Published:
Apr 20, 2026
Keywords:
emerging adulthood, transition to University, narrative identity, reflexive thematic analysis
Abstract
In the Greek educational system, the Panhellenic exams hold an important position. These exams mark the transition not only to university but also to emerging adulthood. In this study, we adopted a qualitative approach to explore the types of turning points that individuals themselves consider important at the beginning of their academic lives. In total, 44 individuals (81.82% women), aged 18 to 23 years (M = 19.0 years), described an experience from their academic life that they consider important because it changed the way they see things or the way they think about a specific issue or the way they behave (i.e. a turning point): What happened, when, which people were involved, what the individual was thinking and feeling, why this experience was a turning point and why it was so important for the individual. Through the reflexive thematic analysis of the responses, we came up with five themes, themes that we named as follows: “My studies and I”, “I will become a teacher”, “Living in a new reality”, “I see things differently, I become a different person” and “Nothing worth mentioning”. Collectively, these themes highlight the complexity of the transition to university and to emerging adulthood in contemporary Greek society. We propose steps that can be taken at various levels in order to help young people manage the possible difficulties related to these transitions.
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Vleioras, G., Evangelineli, E., Kontostoli, A., Manika, M.-E., Masklavanou, D., Stergiou, A. M., & Tsolaki, A. (2026). First time in the University: Turning points in the academic lives of students at an education department . Psychology: The Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society, 31(1), 60–77. https://doi.org/10.12681/psy_hps.45293
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