This is still vague to me. What are these "essential life skills"? If you list some (and make them specific), I'll help you work them in.
• Re-write:
Through their difficult times in college, students will be armed with perseverance and determination which allow them to cope with other plights.
2 answers
What difficult problems? What plights?
Do you not know what perseverance and determination are? If that's the problem, please look them up in a dictionary. You can do that on line by typing the word followed by "definition" in your browser (Google, Bing or whatever you use).