Health and Human Services Professional Development

Final exam stress, self-care, and Starbucks by   Jill Bowers   on   May 8, 2014   Many of you are swamped and feeling the end of the semester heat.  The exams and final papers you are turning in could be critical to your course grade, GPA, or graduation. And, it’s important to stay focused and discipline yourself to study and complete coursework. At the same time, you have to take care of yourself along the way. Emotional and academic stress have been associated with  disturbed sleep  among college students, and the links between  sleep habits and academic performanc e are well-documented. Getting adequate sleep is just one example of how you can take care of yourself as you are mastering your end of the semester tasks. See the article,  Be Kind to Yourself , written by college student, Sofiya Ballin, for The Huffington Post and think about other ways you can engage in self-care during final exam week. You may also be comforted ...

Privileged College Student, Are You Grateful? By Shaun Hurdelbrink and Jill Bowers, PhD  on   April 28, 2015   Many view a higher education as the ultimate gateway to success, but seemingly few students express the gratitude tertiary education deserves. Unfortunately, the opportunities and privileges of being a college student may easily be overlooked or taken for granted. As a university student, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a fellow student complain about the amount work that needs to be done for a class, or how much someone is dreading the next difficult section. I’ve also been asked many times, “what’s the easiest class to take?” If anything, students should be excited to take on academic challenges instead of avoiding or dreading them. Understandably, this is not the view of every student, but my experience has demonstrated that many students may be in a counterproductive mindset. Throughout my life, higher education was viewed as an expectat...