It’s another beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest. The sun is beating down, the thermometer is pushing past 90 degrees and it’s a perfect day to do anything but sit inside. That can only mean one thing – you’re sitting inside, listening to a lecture and the PowerPoint presentation on the big screen in front of you is starting to congeal into one big, pulsating information blob. School is back in session!
Along with the tantalizingly perfect weather that accompanies those first few weeks in the classroom, the beginning of fall semester brings all kinds of other opportunities and challenges, as well. Over the course of this school year, we’ll be writing this column with that in mind. As a student, you are presented with a number of challenges, both big and small. We’d love to be here with you as you develop your repertoire of coping skills and creative solutions.
This is our second year writing Boxer Docs and we’re open to any ideas you may have. This year, we’d like to respond directly to your questions as much as possible. With that in mind, we’re launching “Ask the Boxer Docs.” Just drop us a line at counselingcenter@pacificu.edu, put “ask the boxer docs” in the header and we’ll pick a question or two every issue that we can and answer them to the best of our abilities. Just about everything is fair game – relationships, moods, parents, roommate issues, class worries, family stress – and we won’t use your name (unless you really want us to). Look for “Ask the Boxer Docs” in future issues of the Index and please do send in some questions!
Other than stare longingly out our office windows at the sunshine, one of our favorite fall pastimes is to let people know about what we do here at the Student Counseling Center. We’re located in the same building as student health (but all your records and information are kept completely separate and completely confidential). We’re available by appointment and we have a walk-in hour every day from noon until 1 p.m. for those times when it just doesn’t feel like you can wait for an appointment. Students come see us for all kinds of things that are on their minds – there’s no need to wait until it feels like an emergency.
As the school year gets underway, there are a couple of changes in the works. The Oasis room, which used to be located in the Health Center waiting room, is now on the bottom floor of the UC, next to the mail room. The Oasis has a massage chair, a light box for those long winter days, relaxation audio and more. To use the Oasis room, simply check out a key at the PIC. Another change will come soon, as Student Health and Counseling are making a move across campus. We promise not to sneak over there – we’ll give you plenty of notice!
For now, we’re located across the street from the southeast corner of campus, and we’d be happy to see you. Give us a call at 503-352-2191 to make an appointment. Happy fall semester! Enjoy, don’t forget to take a few deep breaths, and take a break every once in a while to quit staring out the window and take a few notes.
Jeff Guardalabene is a psychologist at Pacific’s counseling center on Cedar Street.
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