Lima

What I Wish I’d Known as a First Generation Student

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I was the first person in my family to go to college.  I was excited to get started and my family was proud of me.  At the time, I didn’t even realize that being a “first generation student” was somehow different from other students on campus who had parents, brothers or sisters, or other family members who were familiar with the world of academia.  But it was – it meant that they knew some things when they got to campus that I had no idea about.  And I didn’t even know I was missing that information.  Here are some of those things I wish I’d known then:

 

  1. College is a fresh start. You will no longer be stuck in the same clique or assumed to have the same label you carried in high school simply because of your last name, where you grew up, or the way you dress.  Everyone in the freshman class is new here.  This is both good and bad.  You’ll need to put some effort into getting involved with groups on campus and making some new friends.  It’s tempting to go to class and go home; but it’s worth your time to get to know people.  It comes in very handy when you end up with a 2 hour break between classes and want a lunch buddy or someone to study with; if you miss a class and need to copy someone’s notes.  And you really do get so much more out of college if you know people and are involved on campus.  It doesn’t seem so much like work and just waiting out the semester as something fun to do.
  2. If you didn’t study or do much homework in high school – that is over. Even for the best students in high school, college will present challenges that require time and effort.  It’s important to know your own strengths and weaknesses and be aware that there will be classes that you feel like you put every spare minute into just to get by.  Luckily there will be other classes that come more easily to you and you won’t need to invest as much effort to do well.  But learn to study and develop good habits early.
  3. It’s ok to ask for help.  Your professors don’t expect you to know the material when you walk in the door – that’s why you’re taking the class.  Everyone (yes, everyone) struggles sometimes.  It is perfectly ok to admit that you’re lost, don’t understand the material, or just need a little extra practice.  You’re paying a bunch of money to be here and learn, don’t let the idea that you “should” be able to get this get in the way of doing that.  The more you work at it, the better it gets, but sometimes you need some assistance.  Find a tutor in the Learning Center, ask for extra help from the instructor, or gather some classmates to study together.
  4. Your professor’s office hours are for you.  Your instructors enjoy what they’re teaching and want their students to do well.  Office hours are an open invitation for you to come talk with the professors about the class – areas where you’re struggling, topics you’re especially interested in, or any other questions you may have.  Stop by and say hello.  They’re waiting.
  5. Take advantage of the services available to you on campus – it’s part of your tuition. Colleges come with built-in services to make your life easier and to help you succeed.  In fact, the university very much wants you to do well and schools like Ohio State are especially proud of their successful students.  To help you along the way there are dozens of folks on campus just waiting to help you with financial aid, figuring out your major and taking the right classes to get you done in four years, support you when you’re stressed out or dealing with personal crises, get your online, figure out your budget and transportation issues, find a job or internship, and more.  Have a problem or concern?  There’s likely someone on campus whose job it is to help you work it out!  And now, many campuses (including OSU Lima) have programs specifically for first generation students.  Not sure who that would be?  Start with the Student Wellness Center (Galvin 107A), they know about all of these services and can help you go in the right direction.
  6. Balance is important – work, family, school, personal & social time, homework. Your life has many pieces and it’s best if they can fit together in a nice, workable way.  It doesn’t always happen, or happen easily, but it’s important to figure out the balance that works for you.  There is no right answer here.  Taking a full course load isn’t right for everyone.  Working full time won’t work for everyone.  It’s tempting to look at your class schedule and see all the open blocks of time as time that you could be at a job (or with friends or gaming or anything else).  But remember that homework has to fit in there somewhere too.  Very few students can manage to work full time and go to school full time successfully.  There is financial aid to help if you can’t work full time to pay for school (just remember to only use what you need, because if you’re taking out loans, someone will come asking for that money back eventually).
  7. You should know how to check into the requirements for your degree and where you stand in the progress toward the degree yourself. You can look up the requirements for any program on the department’s website.  Know the difference between the General Education (GE or Gen Ed) requirements for your program and the requirements for the major.  They’re not the same thing.  You can look all this up online on your own.  And at any time, you can run a degree audit to see which classes you have completed and which classes you still need to finish up.
  8. Things will change with your family.  This is one of the things about transitioning into college that no one talks much about, and is especially true for first gen students.  After a while, it may see that you have more difficulty communicating with your family; they may feel that they don’t understand you as well; there is a growing divide between you.  This transition happens for all students, but for those whose parents went to college, they have a better understanding of what their child is going through and what it is like to be a new college student.  Remember that these challenges don’t have to be permanent and that it doesn’t mean your parents don’t love and support you.  It just means that you’re in a position they have never been in.  Being patient with each other as you figure out your new, more adult relationship is vital.

WHY IS WINTER BREAK SO HARD FOR MANY STUDENTS? (AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT.)

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Classes are done, finals are complete, time for break!  It sounds great – nearly a month without sitting through classes, stressing over homework, trying to juggle school with work, friends, life.  But each break between semesters seems to bring challenges for many students.

 

While all that down time sounds fantastic, it quickly becomes a double-edged sword.  Students often find that by the end of a long break, like winter break or even summer break, they feel worse than when it began.  And this issue probably affects more students that we realize … because who wants to complain about time off?

 

So why do long breaks have the opposite effect from what we expect?  There are several possible reasons.

 

First, you spend an entire semester, 16ish weeks, building a level of activity and stress then suddenly it’s just over.  After your last final, there is a near absence of stuff to stress about in most cases.  It’s a sudden drop in anticipation, worry, and stress levels, which equates to sudden shifts in stress hormones in the body and sudden changes in brain chemistry.  All of that sometimes leaves you feeling like a balloon someone has just let the air out of.  Taking a break is fantastic after all of that work and stress – in fact, it is absolutely necessary.  However, after about 2 days of this, you start to notice the lack of activity and stress to which you’ve become accustomed.

 

Second, what we do with our down time can have a huge impact on our mood and day-to-day behavior.  If you go into break with no plan, or a plan to do a whole bunch of nothing, you may run into problems.  When we’re bored, there are a handful of passive activities we easily turn to.

 

Often, we think – and think, and think, and think.  And for many people, too much time stuck in your own head with your thoughts often takes a downward turn.  We start to analyze all of our flaws, the things that are wrong with our lives, what we should’ve done differently on those exams, how our lives aren’t where / what we want them to be by now, and on it goes.  We fairly quickly notice a downward shift in our mood from doing “ok” to feeling, “blah,” to sad, and sometimes all the way to depressed.  Not good.

 

Another frequent passive activity is hanging out on the couch scrolling through social media pages.  We see all the amazing things others are doing, the fun times they’re having, the accomplishments they’ve achieved, and we begin to feel bad about ourselves.

 

Closely related to the social media binge is the streaming video binge.  Whether your site of choice is YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, or another, it’s so easy to get hooked on a story line and realize you’ve just spent the last 7 hours sitting on the couch, eating chips, and watching TV (or the laptop).  This leaves you feeling physically stiff, mentally fatigued, and low on energy.  This is definitely not restorative down time.

 

If you’ve had a major stressor in your personal life during the semester, sometimes those are put on the back burner and not really dealt with because we’re so busy with school.  These can catch up with you during break.  Be prepared to bring out your best coping skills and use them so you’re not ambushed by this.  Also, if you’ve lost a loved-one any time in the last year or 18 months, the break (with the lack of things to keep you busy and big holidays) can be a very difficult time.  Knowing this in advance can sometimes buffer the impact we feel when those emotions and memories creep up on us.

 

Finally, a sometimes-unexpected fact can make winter break less enjoyable:  changing relationships with family.  As you go through college, you move from being a “kid” – a teenager under full parental supervision – to being an adult, but it doesn’t happen overnight.  It’s a process and it doesn’t always happen smoothly.  You may encounter more power struggles about curfews, house rules, and developing your own independence.  This can be even more pronounced if you’re the first person in your family to go to college because you may feel that your parents just don’t understand what’s going on in your life now (and your parents may feel the same way).  These changing relationships are normal and if you keep that in mind, it may make the process a bit easier.

 

So what can you do to avoid this month-long downward spiral?  Here are some tips:

 

  1. Social media gets everyone’s “good” side.

When people post to social media, they usually post the best parts of their lives – fun times with good friends, pics that are most flattering, and the most brag-worthy achievements.  It’s much less common for people to post failures, pics from first thing in the morning before they’ve brushed their hair or teeth, or boring nights sitting alone at home with nothing to do.  Keep that in mind as your browse.  Avoid the temptation to compare everyone else’s “A side” to your “B side.”

 

  1. Make a plan.

As you’re wrapping up the semester & exams, think about what you’d like to do over break.  Allow yourself some free time (a good Netflix binge is ok once in a while – just not for a whole month), but also plan some active time.  Check in with friends ahead of time to see when they’ll be around so you can plan something.  Get out of the house!  Go to the movies, out to dinner, walk the mall, anything that gets you up & out the door.

 

  1. Spend time with people.

It’s important that you not spend the entire (or even most of the) break alone in your room or apartment.  Find some people to be around – spend time with family, reconnect with friends you don’t have a chance to see during the regular semester, find a way to make some new friends.

 

  1. Get active.

If the weather allows it, outside time is great.  Some sunlight, especially in the winter, can do wonders for your mood.  Be sure to keep up with whatever your regular routine of exercise has been, or use this time to create one if you haven’t been active.  Moderate-intensity exercise improves mood, improves your thinking, decision making, and memory, and helps you sleep better.  Workout with friends – bonus points for social interaction & exercise at the same time!

 

  1. If you’re really struggling, ask for help.

Sometimes the break, the holidays, the time alone can be extra difficult.  If you’re dealing with an anxiety disorder, clinical depression, or grieving the loss of loved ones, the break may be even worse.  If you’ve tried making a plan and getting out of the house and it’s just not helping; if your mood or anxiety are getting worse or you’re feeling desperate or even suicidal, it’s time to ask for help.  You don’t have to be miserable.  It is ok to ask for help.  Talk to someone – your parents, a trusted friend, a therapist.  There are several national hotlines you can call, or even text, to talk with someone 24 hours a day.  Here are some:

Crisis Text Line:  Text 741-741 any time and a live, trained crisis counselor will text you back.

IMALIVE Online Crisis Chat:  https://www.imalive.org/

National Suicide Hotline:  1-800-273-8255

 

Winter break is a great time to recoup from the busy semester; however, without a plan to make use of your time, you’ll find yourself wondering where the time went, and may end up feeling more down than before the break began.  Stay active, get engaged with other people, and have a great break!!

 

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Welcome to Wellness at Ohio State Lima

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Welcome to the new Ohio State Lima Wellness blog.  Here you’ll find all kinds of great information about maintaining – and improving – wellness in all areas of your life.

WHO WE ARE – 

Ohio State Wellness is the home for both the OSU Lima Student Wellness Center and the OSU Lima Counseling & Consultation Services.  We are a part of Student Life at Ohio State Lima and both have the over-arching goal of improving students’ lives – not just their academic performance, but helping them live happier, healthier, and well-informed.

Student Wellness Center – the SWC is a student-led program that provides many key services for OSUL students.  The SWC is manned by trained student volunteers who have extensive knowledge and experience working with all 9 dimensions of wellness.  

  • Wellness Coaching – Our SWC Wellness Coaches offer one-on-one peer coaching for other students.  Coaching meetings can be related to any area of wellness, but common topics include study skills, stress management, time management, getting involved on campus & making new friends, budgets and managing financial aid money a semester at a time, and tips & tricks for healthy eating on a budget.
  • Outreach Events – Throughout the year, Wellness Coaches plan and implement a variety of events aimed a improving student wellness in some way.  Past events have included cooking demonstrations for eating healthy on a budget, recyclables trade-ins for seedlings, free balloons for National Random Acts of Kindness Week, finger painting, hula hooping, and many more!

 

Lima Counseling & Consultation Services – LCCS is the Ohio State Lima office for student mental health.  We provide services such as assessment, diagnosis, brief psychotherapy, consultation, and referrals for students with a wide-array of mental health concerns.  Students seek services from LCCS for reasons as varied as homesickness, clinical depression & suicidal thinking, social anxiety, test anxiety, ADHD, relationship concerns, grief & loss, coming out issues, and many others.

  • All services are completely free for currently enrolled Ohio State Lima students.
  • All services are confidential – our clinical records are kept separate from academic records and we don’t talk with parents, professors, or anyone else about who comes to counseling or what happens during counseling.  There are some legal exceptions to this, such as when an individual is a danger to him/herself or others.

 

 HOW TO USE THE SERVICES – 

To see a Wellness Coach, check the hours posted outside the door (or on our Facebook page) for times that a Coach is available, and just walk in.  You may also email lima_swc@osu.edu to schedule an appointment.  

To participate in outreach programming from either SWC or LCCS, watch for announcements on Facebook (SWC or LCCS) or postings around campus for information about topics, dates, & times.

To see one of the therapists / counselors at LCCS, you may call, email, or stop in to make an appointment.