By DENISE PALMER
Does any of the following sound familiar?
— “I just broke up with my boyfriend and need someone other than a roommate to talk to.”
— “I’m a single parent and am starting to feel overwhelmed with school.”
— “I can’t stand my French teacher and need to know what to do.”
If so, don’t despair. Students can find answers to problems such as these at Women’s Services & Resources.
Jean Taylor Scott, a coordinator, calls the counseling and development center “one-stop shopping.”
“If (students) have problems and aren’t sure where to go, we help them find the place to go,” she said.
Scott said they have a lot of support offices, including academic support offices, career counseling and personal counseling.
“If a student finds himself or herself drowning, then they can go in and get some academic support,” Scott said. “If a student knows what they want to major in, but don’t know what to do with it or don’t know what major to choose, they can help students clarify and move forward with a major.”
“We also have personal counseling. This is a difficult time — you are being critiqued daily,” Scott said. “Sometimes relationships are hard. Sometimes you’re working and going to school. We have licensed therapists, and this is all free.”
Scott said students may be able to get into counseling the same day they visit the office. She said toward the end of the semester they get a little busier.
Scott said women can go to the center even if they don’t know exactly why they are struggling.
“If a woman knows she’s struggling, but doesn’t know why or just needs someone to listen to her, she can come into the women’s office,” she said. Scott said they will try to diagnose the problem to help the student. “If she wasn’t aware of all of those services, we can help her get the help she needs.”
Scott said the center also deals with special populations, especially single parents and older students re-entering school.
Scott said the center welcomes men, but they usually don’t come in unless they’ve already built a trust with one of their teachers who works at the center.
“We do get fathers, brothers and boyfriends who come in because they’re concerned about the female in their life,” Scott said.
Scott said she hopes that all students, male or female, will feel welcome at the center.
“This is a place to bring issues that deal more with women than men, but we’re all human and what affects one really does affect the other,” she said.
“The office staff is eager to build networks of care and understanding, challenge and support among women, through discussion groups and lecture series, as well as through simple one-on-one communication,” says the pamphlet for Women’s Services & Resources. “Alone, unravelled, thread by brilliant thread, we sometimes break. Together we are whole and strong.”
