Goal Setting & Careers

The Resilience of Champions

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College comes along with all types of new challenges, and resilience is important in order to withstand these adversities and bounce back. It is hard to know if you are resilient enough or how to improve it. There are five important aspects of resiliency: social support, self-esteem, coping skills, communication skills, and emotional regulation.

Social Support

Humans are social creatures and often need a community to help them through hardship. A person’s supportive social systems fosters their resilience in times of crisis. A support system can include immediate or extended family, community, friends, and organizations. It can be hard to find your niche especially in a place as big as OSU. But getting involved with Student Organization can help you find a support system and a sense of community.

Self-esteem

A positive sense of self and confidence in your own abilities can help with resiliency. Remember to be kind to yourself; if you would not say it to your best friend do not say it to yourself. We will touch more on self-talk a maintaining a growth mindset next week.

Coping skills

Having problem solving skills and coping skills can help empower a person to work through the challenges they face. Using positive coping skills can help bolster resilience more than nonproductive coping skills. Here are some examples of positive coping skills:

  • Exercising
  • Writing/drawing
  • Being with others
  • Watching a comfort show or movie
  • Making a to-do list or setting goals
  • Asking for support

Communication skills

Being able to communicate clearly and effectively helps people seek and receive support. People who are able to show empathy toward and inspire confidence and trust in others tend to be more resilient. Here are some tips to improve your communication skills

  • Actively listening (and do not just wait for your turn to speak)
  • Be clear and concise
  • Consider nonverbal communication
  • Be mindful of tone

Emotional regulation

Certain emotions and feelings can be overwhelming at times. The ability to manage these overwhelming emotions, or find assistance to work through them, helps to maintain focus when overcoming a challenge. Here are some tips to help with emotional regulation:

  • Identify and reduce triggers
  • Take a breath. Slow down the moments between the trigger and the response.
  • Make a choice about how to respond
  • Notice and name what you are feeling
  • Accept the emotion

Here is more material on resilience:

By: Skylar Millard

Welcome to a new academic year

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This pandemic has been hard on all of us. With the surge in the Delta variant and the return of public health mandates, it’s tempting to believe that we are missing out on our “ideal” college experience. This short post by SOARS peer-professional Olivia Bear talks about how it’s OK to be upset about that, and how to keep moving forward.

Lost Experiences

Rounding out your resume during PA/NP semesters

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Moving Beyond COVID

(by John Babyak)

Students who looking to apply for graduate and professional programs may worry about PA/NP on their transcripts. During the Covid-19 semesters, colleges are aware that there was a higher percentage of students using PA/NP and have accounted for this.

Although Covid-19 semesters have been accounted for, students should be aware that graduate
schools and programs may differ in the acceptance of courses taken as PA/NP. Students should
consult with their advisors, graduate programs, and universities to understand their PA/NP
decisions. Visit https://advising.osu.edu/sp20-passnon-pass#Important-PA-NP-considerations for
PA/NP considerations. If you are one of those students who wants to find other ways for your application to stick out, here are a few friendly reminders and resources for you.

  • Research, internships, and volunteering are great ways to gain experience as well as add to your resumes and graduate applications. Although students may not have been able to experience typical research, internships, and volunteer opportunities because Covid-19, there are still ways for you to gain experience through virtual volunteer activities. https://www.givebesa.org/ is a great resource to find volunteer opportunities!
  • Students can still talk about transferable skills they have gathered from previous job experiences, volunteer opportunities, etc. https://www.onetonline.org/ has lists of skills for each job.
  • If students feel that Covid-19 has affected their lives too much and do not feel they have enough experience for a graduate program, they can consider delaying graduate school for a year; and use that time to gather career experience.

Another issue students may have is that their GPA is below the minimum requirement for a graduate program, and if this is the case there are still options for you!

  • One of the options these students have is to see if they are eligible to retake courses to achieve a higher grade.
  • Students can also consider the GRE exam to help boost their chances of acceptance into their program.
  • If those options do not work for you, another option would be to find a school that has a lower GPA requirement for your program and apply there.
  • If you are a student who is interested in exploring graduate and professional programs that
    match your interests or is interested in career exploration and job analysis, check out this link!
    https://ccss.osu.edu/undergrads/explore-graduate-professional-school/identifying-programs-thatmatch-your-interests/

Staying Motivated and Healthy For A New Semester

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As the Spring 2021 semester begins, it can be challenging for students to get prepared and find their motivation to begin coursework and attend classes while getting into the swing of a new semester. One way students can prepare and motivate themselves for a new semester is by creating a schedule and planning out the workload for classes and sticking to that schedule. Creating a schedule and plan for the semester will help put stress at ease and get students excited and motivated! Students should review their created schedules and plans every couple of weeks and tweak if you find your previous one was too ambitious or to reflect any new priorities and commitments. One great resource that OSU offers to help motivate and prepare students is the Dennis Learning Center. The Dennis Learning Center is a resource that offers courses, academic coaching, and workshops to help students develop their learning and motivation strategies. As important as it is to get prepared and motivated, it is also crucial for students to stay healthy throughout the semester. OSU offers many supportive resources to help keep students healthy. One of those resources is the Student Wellness Center which empowers students to strive for strength and wellness through their programs such as nutrition coaching, wellness coaching, and many more! Another resource offered by OSU to support students’ health is the office of Student Life Counseling and Consultation Services which strives to support students struggling with their mental health. Although the start of a new semester can be a stressful time for students, OSU offers a variety of resources to support their students and keep them on track to succeed! With the support of these resources, students can have a successful semester at OSU!

The links to the above resources are listed below:
https://dennislearningcenter.osu.edu/
https://swc.osu.edu/
https://ccs.osu.edu/