How many of us have found ourselves stressing over midterms, research papers and ending up dropping a course for fear of failing? It can be difficult to deal with the stress of daily life and school at the same time, so Aracely Hernandez, counselor from Student Counseling Services informs us about how to deal with stress and tells us about free resources available to students to promote relaxation on campus.
According to our university catalog, the current graduation rate is down 41%, which means that more than half of the freshmen registered in 2002 did not graduate from college. The rate for dropping courses is also alarming, as stress and academic pressures are some of the factors that influence those rates.
“The main focus for relaxation is for you to feel more calm, get rid of any anxiety you may have, know how to deal with the stress, and this can be on an everyday basis. We can teach them how to do the relaxation techniques. We have anything from progressive muscle relaxation to just meditation or breathing techniques,” said Hernandez, detailing the resources offered in Student Counseling Services to help the students relax and cope with stress.
To take advantage of the relaxation taught at the SCS office, students simply need to fill out a form and soon after they will be called to set up an appointment with a counselor. The different techniques can be learnt in two to three sessions, but students are said to start benefiting from them from the very first one.
For students looking for a quick fix, the SCS office also offers a relaxation room, or “Magic Room”.
“The atmosphere at the relaxation room is really great because we not only have the relaxation chair and the music, but we can also have sort of like an aroma therapy, where it smells nice and relaxing, so it’s a combination of all these three things,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez adds, the best part of all this is that all services from the SCS are included in student tuition, so student’s are invited to take advantage of this resource.
To make an appointment with a counselor or find out more information on their services, contact Student Counseling Services at 326-2230, or visit www.tamiu.edu/counseling.
(You may contact Lilia Eskildsen at lilia@dusty.tamiu.edu)
Tuesday, July 1, 2025