the encouragement lounge: stress management

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Guest blogger- My Dad!!!!

Thanks Dad for contributing this week's Encouragement Lounge post and photo!

Have you ever looked back on your day, week, month, etc. and felt as if everything (work-family responsibilities and of course school) is starting to pile up and you are on the bottom of the pile? If you try to get accomplish everything at once (move that pile) you will not finish anything and things will become more confusing. However, with "Patience and Perseverance", tackle one item at a time, get help from your spouse, significant other, friends, peers, teachers and before long the pile will get smaller and smaller. There is nothing you can not accomplish when you approach things in an orderly, systematic fashion. Getting upset and throwing stones does not help and you might break a window!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Confused? Just ask.

If you are finding an assignment to be confusing, ask your professor for clarification! Sounds simple, but I know that often students are hesitant to ask either because they think they should just "get it" or that the professor may be annoyed. I can tell you though, that most of us on the teaching side would much rather hear those questions.

When you convey that something is confusing, it helps us recognize elements of a syllabus or assignment that may not be clear (not only to you, but to other students).

Also, we would rather you ask, and get on the right track, than to guess and possibly guess wrong and then go down the wrong path with your work. So, if you are confused, ask for clarification.

Good luck with the work!
Harriet

Photo by HLS

Working adult students, on my mind...

I hope this blog will be helpful to friends and others involved in a variety of endeavors. However, I created the blog with students in mind and continue to develop it with that specific group as my focus.

I believe that with the increase in evening, weekend, and low-residency programs, students are working more and more in isolation. If we were all full-time students on campus, we would have the informal support that comes with being able to go down the hall and talk with a colleague, etc. But instead, we are working late nights and weekends at home in front of the laptop.

With that in mind, I hope the encouragement lounge provides brief moments of respite and energizing connection. This does not at all replace valuable face-to-face contact. Many aspects of the academic journey can only be addressed via in-depth conversations with colleagues and teachers. And I would always rather sit down and talk with someone than to communicate online. Nonetheless, my aim is to give you one more channel for quick hits of support.