Learn Well for Student Success
School of Health Sciences and Wellness University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
Welcome. This is Learn Well for Student Success out of Student Success Center in the School of Health Sciences and Wellness at UW Stevens Point. It's our mission to support the whole student, honoring individual experiences and getting each person access to tools and resources that will help them achieve their goals.
If you have ever struggled to get going on an assignment, have ever been challenged to set goals, felt overwhelmed, or as felt as though you were imposter in your own major, then this an invitation from us to you. We understand the inherent challenges of being a college student and we know that with supports and connection, you can make your college experience one that is full of opportunity and growth.
Listen in as we talk to campus and community experts and students about their strategies for success.
Learn Well for Student Success
How to Finish the Semester Strong-Think Like a Farmer
The Student Success Center recently had an insightful metaphor come through our inbox and it was a challenge to us all to think like farmers and we think this concept is helpful for students, particularly at the end of the semester. Most of us don't think about it on a daily basis but there are so many unknowns for farmers in the work they do but their livelihoods and ours are greatly impacted. For example, I [your host] live out of town and have seen my neighbor at home starting to harvest a field at 8:00 on a Sunday and working through the night because that is when the conditions are right and when he can get it done. In these cases, he has already put in a ton of time, energy, and resources into his fields, and he has played the long game but then he has to make the space and find the energy to harvest at the exact right time and not miss his window.
So, what does this have to do with students? Well, the semester can feel a lot like this where students put time, energy, and resources into their studies. And like a farmer experiencing poor weather conditions, they might even experience hurdles they did not anticipate or things that are or are of their control. Then at the the end of the semester, they still have that final push of work they have to get done. The lesson in all of this for us is that we need to work in a way that takes advantage of the foundation we have spent the semester laying and that we want to prevent ourselves from adding even more tasks and stress. We want to be able to figure out what is in our control and make changes accordingly and then find a way to create energy where we need it. Today, we have two leaders in our school, Graduate Students Mikenzie Conrad and Brooklyn Miller, here to talk to us about how students can actually make those tweaks and create results for themselves and experience success at the end of the semester.