OUR VIEW: Therapy isn’t that bad of an idea
Finals are coming.
This is the limbo period of each semester. The majority of work and learning is behind us, cramming sessions and anxiety are ahead of us. There’s a feeling of change in the air and all we can do is wait and hope the winds blow in our academic favor.
The upcoming weeks before finals leave little room for mistakes or slacking and students will often go to extremes to pull of almost impossible feats. From opening a textbook for the first time since January and trying to learn an entire semester of information in one night, to balancing the due dates of projects, papers and tests, even the most well-meaning and pulled together student can start to feel overwhelmed.
But there’s help.
There are at least two organizations on campus that truly live up to USU’s creed of being student centered: The Health and Wellness Center and the Counseling Center.
At a time when students feel pressured to forgo all rational sleep and eating patterns, students are more likely to become ill, and feeling nauseated during an exam will do little to improve your test scores. The Health and Wellness Center not only offers free consultations for students for those who feel something coming on, but advice on how to stay healthy so even if your study habits aren’t optimal come finals week, at least your health will be.
Similarly, students can be pushed to the brink of mental exhaustion. All across campus students are stressing about getting accepted into or rejected from programs, preparing to be denied graduation this semester, worried about choosing a major or next year’s classes and trying to study, work, be part of families, relationships and apartments all at the same time.
No one said college would be easy but nobody expected you to figure it out all by yourself, either.
Which is why there’s the USU Counseling Center. From a one-time consultation to get some advice on how to get some needed sleep or manage stress better, to the decision that now is the time to face something deeper that’s keeping you from doing and feeling your best, all it takes is scheduling an appointment.
At both places there is no copay and no consultation fee. In the Counseling Center, if all you need is a place to destress, therapy animals are often on duty. A therapist might intimidate you, but we bet the animals won’t.
Grades are one thing, but they pale in comparison to your health – physical or emotional. With finals approaching we encourage all students to keep a little perspective and take advantage of the services available.
Maybe therapy isn’t such a bad ideal after all.