Students seek staff for stress solutions Learn about on-campus resources that can help you cope

Author: Jeff Wehrwein

College students deal with stress on a regular basis. From the classroom to the athletic fields, students juggle different responsibilities and face the pressures of performing well at an elite academic institution. While some students may have established their own methods of dealing with stress at Middlebury, others could use a helping hand.

The Center for Teaching, Learning and Research (CTLR), located at the back of the New Library, is one resource available to students who seek anxiety and academic-related advice. The Center offers workshops designed to help students relieve academic stress and staff available to advise students on anything from time management to healthy living.

Director of Learning Resources Yonna McShane helps students structure a manageable schedules.

McShane said that she helps "students structure their schedules, while also making room for other activities such as work, play, sleep and leisure time." She acknowledged the stressful demands on college students, but reiterated that it is important to maintain healthy sleep, study and eating habits.

"Eat healthy foods as well," says McShane. Sometimes stress becomes so strong that it decreases appetite and makes us think we don't need as much to eat. This is not true."

McShane advises students to "try to get at least seven to nine hours of sleep per night and to separate study space from sleeping space."

And there's more - students can take McShane's relaxation techniques home with them on a cd.

"Listen to my voice, follow directions and relax," begins McShane in the calming recording, before asking the listener to "transport yourself to a place where you are safe, relaxed, calm and peaceful."

At the end of the CD, the listener is told to imagine an "egg filled with relaxation cracking over your head and spreading over your body."

Testifying to the help that CTLR can offer, Kasima Brown '09.5, who has met with McShane, said, "Yonna is a great person and has helped me when I needed to relax. I love her. We hug."

As stress becomes anxiety, or before it does, students may seek help in the Counseling & Human Relations Center, located on the third floor of Parton Health Center. Director of the Center for Counseling and Human Relations Gary Margolis, said that it is important "to recognize the tipping point when stress becomes dis-stress." Sometimes, to alleviate stress, Margolis said students may indulge themselves in too much of something - like exercise - which can become unhealthy.

"Vulnerability of body image in young adults in a very real thing and it exists on every college campus," said Margolis. He stressed the necessity of noticing bad eating habits, reminding students that the College has an Eating Disorder Team, which can help with problems concerning body image.

Right outside of Margolis' office rests a bowl full of little plastic bags filled with tiny objects - perhaps all a stressed out student needs. Each bag contains a card that reads "The Anti-Stress Kit," while the text beneath explains that each object in the bag fulfills a stress-relieving purpose. The mini eraser, for example, is meant "to make little mistakes disappear," while the string is there "to hold it together when it all seems to be falling apart." Although small and seemingly meaningless, the tiny bag can provide a small dose of comfort to someone in need.

For those who might need more than a goody bag of sorts to feel like they are making progress in combatting their stress, the counseling staff on campus is available to all stdents. As one sophomore noted, "The counselors help steer you in the right direction. There is no permanent counseling on campus, but the staff listens to your problems and helps you make the next step."

The trick is knowing where to find the right staff, what resources exist on the Middlebury campus, and whom one can turn to for guidance.

"I was really overwhelmed with work in the beginning of the year," said one first-year student, "so I went to my academic advisor. I asked him, 'How can I more effectively manage my time?' I was hoping he would give me a good answer, but instead he stared at me blankly and then said, 'I have no idea.'"