Opinion
Ask Kayla
October 24, 2014
Hello UW-River Falls students! My name is Kayla Donahue and I am a sophomore here on campus. I live and work in Grimm Hall as a Resident Assistant, and I started a new advice column right here in the Student Voice. Send me an email message at ask.kayla.uwrf@gmail.com. Explain your issue that needs resolving and sign it with an alias or your real name. Anonymity is completely up to you. You can submit topics for discussion from problems in the classroom to relationships with that special someone. I’m open to almost anything except for topics laced with profanity and pornography.
I am having a difficult time balancing my workload with school and my friends. What can I do to help relieve some of this stress? --Pulled In All Different Directions
I know exactly what you mean. Between school, work and my social life, I barely have time for myself, which I think is most important. You need to find time for yourself, whether that means meditation, yoga, walking, running, just do whatever it is that you do that helps make you, you!
I personally enjoy vegging out in my room and watching Netflix for a couple of hours. Usually before I sleep. It helps me unwind from my day and lets my brain relax a little bit so it doesn’t keep me awake thinking of all the things I have yet to do.
Figure out what it is that you love to do and go ahead and do it! Not only will it reduce stress, but it will also help you with self-discovery if you’re still trying to figure out who you are or what you want to do with your life.
One of my professors is so difficult! I don’t understand the way he teaches, or what he’s teaching us and it’s making me totally lost and confused in the class. I got a C on the first exam, which is better than I thought I would get, but I need to do better, and he doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with the way he teaches. What do I do? --Teacher’s Pain
I am struggling with pretty much the same thing, but unless dropping the course is an option (which is the absolute last thing to try), unfortunately you’ve got to stick it out to the end. You could maybe try visiting the professor during office hours and talk to them about it. Let them know that you are struggling and hopefully they will try and help you.
You can also look up some videos on YouTube to see someone else can teach differently that suits you better. You could also try seeing a tutor in the Tutoring Center to help. We just have to work with the professors we get. It’s not ideal, but you learn to work with it and learn with different teaching methods and styles. I hope I could help!
Kayla Donahue is a student at UW-River Falls.