College Is Fine, Everything's Fine

Yes! Today we’re getting to the core of our college sports series: current and former student athletes themselves. In today’s episode we talk to current athletes on what the college experience is like for them. And we’re going to guess that a lot of the things they spoke about will sound familiar to anyone who feels the multi-pronged pressure of college life. Simply switch out “sports” for “job” o...

Are you a college athlete? You need to hear this. Are you a student who’s never touched a ball, like Sarah? You need to hear this, too.  We know that college-student athletes face intense pressures: performing at the top of their sport, navigating branding opportunities, earning a degree, building friendships, and all while trying to have fun. Oh yeah, and sleep. Non-athletes have a ton to juggle...

Imagine playing the sport you love, having a built-in community, and earning a degree at the same time? In many ways that sounds amazing, but is that the whole picture? This week we start our student-athlete series with Dan Rickard, the assistant coach of the NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball team at State University of New York at Stonybrook. Dan brings the perspective of coach and player. Not onl...

Covid. Ugh. We all have pandemic news fatigue by now.  And although Covid may not be the headline of campus conversations anymore, our student interviews have shown us there’s always something about the pandemic written in the fine print. College student mental health has taken a hit in some obvious, and in some not-so-obvious, ways.  In this episode, we discuss a research study highlighted by the...

We are thrilled to share a special interview with you this week. Mike (guitarist) and Ali (singer), two members of the talented band Seeing Double, share how they find balance in their multilayered life: student, musician, bandmate, friend. And with their song “Leah” going viral on TikTok, the title of one of their * other* songs “Take It Or Leave It” takes on new meaning. Hear how the band handle...

We often predict that our college years are finally going to be the time that we have the ability to be fully autonomous.  And while the transition to college is filled with unregulated freedom, college students still face challenging social situations that make them feel powerless.  Maybe a professor is unwilling to be flexible with a request you are making, or your roommate is unwilling to probl...

College is a petri dish of new situations and new relationships. Maybe you’re meeting your new teammates, hesitating to introduce yourself to students in your dorm, or avoiding talking to that professor who has a reputation for snark. And since it’s all so new, you likely haven’t had many chances to practice the social skills that are important in these situations.  Social skills are like muscles....

All of us feel emotions, and it’s a fact that it’s one of the most vital factors that drives us. But emotions are complex.  Every day our daily experiences can impact them.  The weather, our favorite song on the radio, or an instagram post you see– all of these can affect our mood, and change the way we feel and impact how we think. The problem comes when we allow our feelings to automatically inf...

In Episode 4, "Why It Can Be Hard to Find Your People, And Keep Them," we talked about how indecision can make us feel stuck in some relationships. Our guests touched on a few ways times they've come to a relationship fork in the road: "I don't know which friend group to prioritize." "Do I go out with a group that I’m not clicking with just to say I have plans?" "Should I stay with my high school...

Ok, so we all agree that making friends was easier when we were younger. We were spoon fed neighborhood friends, teammates, fellow band members. Then comes college and you start from scratch. Last week we talked about the 5 ways students can struggle to make friends, and/or to keep them once they do.  In a follow-up to Episode 4, we narrow in one of the most common friendship obstacles: worry thou...

Finding your people in college isn't always easy. Keeping them? Sometimes that’s even trickier. On today's episode, we talk to our first expert guest, Professor Amy DiBernardo. She’s a licensed clinical social worker, an instructor at New York University and a former J.Crew junkie (emphasis on former).  We chat about the 5 obstacles we see on campus that keep our clients stuck in a whole range of...

Are you seeing dialectics everywhere now? It is Part 2. We are back hearing from more students about the common dialectics they experience during the college years. In this episode we speak with a freshman and senior in college and see the interplay between the discourses of "carpe diem" and "focus on your future".  They speak about how difficult it can be to navigate the social demands of college...

College is a time of extremes. Incredible freedom and intense pressure. Loving your independence and missing pieces of home. So many new people to meet, yes! And so many new people to meet, nooooo!  In psych speak we call these extremes "dialectics," the idea that two seemingly opposite truths can be occurring at the same time. This is a big topic so we're breaking it down a bit. In this episode (...

How many of you have heard that "college is the best 4 years of your life?" And sure, that can be true. But man it can throw you when the picture you had in your mind doesn't match what you deal with day-to-day. And it's lonely when you think you're the only one who's surprised by all the things college brings. On today's episode, our guests share the expectations they had going into freshman year...

College can be...Really social, and pretty lonely. A time of amazing freedom, and a total pressure cooker. The best years of your life, except when it's not. We're Dr. Sarah Olivo and Dr. Liz Seidler, two clinical psychologists who've helped students navigate the highs and lows of college for over a decade. In this podcast, we listen to your stories and use them as our guide. Hear us give actionab...