Counselling services offer support across campuses
NOELLE VONG, CONTRIBUTOR
More and more students are feeling the pressure of everyday life. Combine that with a heavy course load, working a part-time job and hours of homework, students have a lot on their plates.
To manage multiple responsibilities, some students seek help through counselling.
Laureen Janzen is the coordinator of RRC’s counselling and accessibility services. She said students come in for counselling for a variety of reasons.
“Some common concerns are symptoms of depression and anxiety, stress management, relationship/family struggles and the need to develop overall coping skills,” Janzen said.
The top three issues students seek counselling for are academic demands, such as managing the difficulties of stress, pressure and feeling like there is a lot at stake, financial challenges, and the lack of coping skills, which creates anxiety or depression, according to Janzen.
Nirav Chaudhary is a student in RRC’s business information technology (BIT) program. Like other programs at the college, Chaudhary said BIT demands a lot from students.
“The program is very busy — there’s a lot of back-to-back assignments,” Chaudhary said. “My classmates and I don’t really have time to relax. We’re stressed out a lot of the time.”
Chaudhary said one of the most stressful parts of the program is maintaining good grades.
“We want to maintain a good academic average so we can find jobs after graduation,” he said. “There’s a lot of competition between our classmates.”
Chaudhary attends five classes each day starting at 8 a.m., after which he works part time.
Even though the courses are demanding, Chaudhary said instructors are always willing to help out students if they need assistance with coursework. However, it’s common for students to drop out of the program, Chaudhary added.
“We’re given work periods sometimes to work on programming, but they’re optional,” Chaudhary said. “If you don’t keep up with the work, it’s just going to come back and hurt you later. People who don’t understand the material don’t do well on the exams and end up dropping out of the program.”
Counselling and accessibility services also provides reflection rooms—quiet rooms available to students as a place for relaxing and meditation. They are located in room A233 at the Notre Dame Campus and room P207 at the Exchange District Campus.
Janzen said the counselling RRC provides to students is short term, but they can find long-term support for students who need it.
