Student Services Advisor at Herzing College
As time presses on and students persist in their respective programs, it is a good time to acknowledge that it is not always smooth sailing.
The lives of students are often challenged by a number of common stressors.
The word I would like to present to you as great food for thought is resilience. What is resilience? One definition refers to it as the capacity to adapt or recover in the face of adversity.
Clearly, COVID-19 has challenged the world. But pandemic aside, what are some other examples of adversity that students often encounter?
The list may include loss, trauma, family/relationship issues, health challenges, difficulties attaining academic goals, etc.
For many people, there is a significant difference between merely surviving and thriving. This applies in all areas of life.
Often, it’s not until a person enters adulthood or post-secondary education that they begin to take stock of how they are functioning on a daily basis.
For some, these are long-term challenges that continue as they move through the different stages of life. For many other students, however, there is an awakening of sorts that occurs when they become engaged in self-awareness.
Resilience teaches us to recognize patterns and situations and to improve our ability to respond to them. Stressors and adversity are inherently part of life.
Think of this initial process of improving self-awareness as the starting line in the marathon that is life.
We live in a world that often does not pay attention to warning signs or minimizes them due to a very underdeveloped ability to cope with obstacles that are in our way.
If you feel motivated to learn more about becoming resilient, do not hesitate to read about it and/or talk to others in your world who have walked this path and can provide you with valuable guidance.
