As the winter semester resumes, the transition to mainly online instruction is having an impact on students’ mental health.
The Learning Café at Lethbridge College offers academic help to students in all programs. Students can receive help from academic strategists, join student success workshops and access peer tutors. Diane Fjordbotten, Learning Café coordinator says students can connect with staff by phone call or video meetings.
“You don’t have to have your camera on necessarily to have a video appointment, but it does give us the opportunity to share a screen for example to show you something and to help make a point that we’re talking about a little bit clearer.”
Although students were mainly completing their studies online last semester, Fjordbotten says they have seen an increase in students accessing resources at the Learning Café.
“We had more than a 200 per cent increase [attend our student success workshops], so it was really great to see students being proactive in terms of building skills to help them be successful.” More information on the workshops can be found on the college’s website.
With Alberta’s COVID-19 restrictions some students weren’t able to gather with family over the holiday break. As students return back to a virtual atmosphere, Wellness Services staff at Lethbridge College are encouraging students to pay attention to their mental health, before they reach a crisis.
“Students can get overwhelmed with the number of emails that they get, as well as organizing for this semester,” says Emily Spencer, a triage nurse at Wellness Services. “Then come February, students might start to realize, ‘oh I’m not doing so well, I should maybe reach out’. I hope that this semester students reach out sooner rather than later, rather than when they’re at that point of crisis, so we have the proper supports that can help them be successful [in their] growth this semester.”
It can be a nervous time for new students starting at Lethbridge College and with online instruction, some students may not have the same connection with their instructors and classmates. Building Connections is a new initiative created by Wellness Services to create an opportunity for students to get to know each other with the main goal to help build connections between students among their classes.
“We hope just getting a conversation going that it will be more comfortable for students to reach out to others outside of class,” said Spencer.
Wellness Services says students can reduce their stress and anxiety levels throughout the semester by building healthy relationships as well as connecting with friends and family virtually. A few ways students can prioritize their mental health and physical health is by going for walks, taking mid-day breaks, eating nutritious food, drinking water and getting plenty of sleep. Screen time can also play a big factor when it comes to mental health, students are reminded to take breaks from their screens, including phones.
Spencer says she has noticed students are beginning to put a positive twist on the new reality that COVID-19 has brought.
“Some students have been able to go home and live with their family which is awesome and they’re pretty happy about that. I know some people are across the world doing classes here, so just looking at the silver lining of things can help a little bit.”
The Lethbridge College Students’ Association has partnered with Accessibility Services and Wellness Services to create a student roundtable drop-in Zoom session every Wednesday. Students can come and go as they please between 4 and 6 p.m. Student roundtables are an opportunity for students to meet new people within the college community who may not be in their program.
The Learning Café has also started a new series called Thriving in Action where students can join sessions that are designed to help students build resilience and connection with others attending college. Thriving in Action is set to start on Jan. 25 and more information can be found on Lethbridge College’s social media pages or by emailing, learningcafe@lethbridgecollege.ca.