Learn Well for Student Success

In our episode on Communication Beyond Text Messages , we solidify the importance of all School of Health Sciences and Wellness students being able to develop and deploy effective communication in everyday situations but what do you do when a conversation is particularly hard or difficult? What do you do when you have to deliver information the other party might not want to hear or what if you dis...

The School of Health Sciences and Wellness is unique in that many of our programs are pre-professional, and our students go on to further graduate school or additional certification or training. This means students feel the weight of regular undergraduate course work while also having to navigate building a resume and portfolio of experiences that will help launch them into further programming and...

When prepping for grad school, students devote a lot of time to things like applications, essays, and required exams and it can all feel like overwhelming busy work. It's really helpful to point out that although it does not always feel like it, essays and test scores are more than just requirements; they are opportunities for students to showcase their unique stories, skills and potential. I...

Anyone who has experienced their first trip to the dining hall, dorm move, or first group project knows that college isn't just about academics, it's a time to grow emotionally, socially, and personally. We learn about who we are and how we want to be in the world. Today on the podcast, we will talk about how grad schools also have an intertest in students' wider development, and th...

When researching and applying for graduate school and other professional programs, it can be easy to get lost in the details like required prerequisites, GPA's and test scores and this can lead students down the path of narrowly defining themselves. As a result, they may forgo opportunities that honor their whole selves or miss chances to demonstrate all of their talents and strengths.  Grad...

The Betty Ford Foundation defines compassion fatigue as "a state of exhaustion and dysfunction derived from the empathic responses to others' suffering, which diminishes professionals' ability to provide compassionate care." Students in the School of Health Science and Wellness enter fields where this cost of caring is high and it's important to highlight how success in th...

A lot of definitions universally available, frame self-esteem as a person's sense of their worth or value. With this simple understanding, it's not hard to see how someone attending college may come up against challenges in maintaining or building their self-esteem. For example, a student can easily interpret a less than desirable grade as an indicator that they are not good enough versu...

Based on the nature of learning where students have to learn foundational critical thinking and study skills first, and that they sometimes have to take courses that don't completely fall into interest areas, it can be easy for them to sometimes feel as though they are checking boxes and it's hard to see the big picture. Or, they have real vision for what they want to achieve in the long...

It is not at all uncommon for students to walk into the Success Center in the School of Health Science and Wellness with the worry that they "are just not motivated." But, when asked a few follow-up questions they can easily recite all the reasons that do motivate them, from the dietetics student who is passionate to help young kids with diabetes to the Medical Lab Sciences student who i...

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 impacte...

There seems to be growing awareness in recent years around things related to mental health, stress, and trauma where there is wider acceptance and more information than ever before. There is more understanding, flexibility, and support overall. At the same time, we still live in a culture that in a lot of ways, prioritizes productivity over wellness and for individuals to "pull themselves up...

Research on stress and trauma in recent decades, in the context of information technology, has opened may people's eyes to some of the built-in systems we have to protect ourselves. Most have a general understanding that these systems were really useful when our ancestors lived closer to nature and the elements and would have to escape a wild animal. It only makes sense that your heart starts...

Students in the School of Health Sciences and Wellness often exposed to a breadth and depth of science courses and we often hear feedback that courses like Chem and Bio are a lot tougher at the collegiate level than the high school level. Even strong students with in-depth science backgrounds come up against challenges. Luckily with a few study strategy edits and willingness to try something new,...

Students in the School of Health Sciences and Wellness are strong and energetic students who are committed to their areas of study and to serving others, but they come to UW-SP with a number of challenges that previous generations did not experience including hurdles around post-pandemic learning, a mental health crisis amongst their peers, a changing economy and career outlook, and overall uncert...

There is not a day that goes by where we don't hear the phrase "information overload." We all have worlds of information at our fingertips and at the same time, it can be more of a struggle than ever to get started on a project because the sheer amount of sifting that has to be done. Today, Dave Dettman is here to break information overload down for us into some manageable steps. Yo...