Our Questions:

  1. How has your mental/physical well being or health changed since you’ve started college, if at all?
  2. What has caused that change?
  3. Where has it had an impact? Family life, friends, or is it something that only affects you?
  4. Have you done anything to deal with this?
  5. Do you think that Temple has the available and adequate resources to help people dealing with issues like this?

Alex Kitsmarishvili

Going into the questions I was sure some people wouldn’t have had as much of a struggle as some others, and the answers panned out similarly. Out of the 5 friends asked 3 of them mentioned that their health had actually improved. I think, among all the negativity on college campuses (in regards to health) it is nice to see that the more free environment that comes with higher education still lifts many people up and allows them to thrive. 

There were common stressors pointed out by the respondents. “College is stressful, I’m on scholarship so it makes it harder on me when I do bad.” was a quote from a respondent who actually said they were doing quite well. The other respondents also echoed something similar. College is almost a necessity in this country but it being such an investment makes many people feel like they have one shot, and that isn’t conducive to a healthy mentality. It feels as though colleges owe it to the students to at least get an environment that allows them to deal with their problems that come with the price they pay to attend. 

Although some of the respondents did say Temple offers enough resources, the people who had a harder time disagreed. “The resources that are offered are definitely helpful but there needs to be a lot of improvement, I’m hopeful though.“ was what one respondent said. As for what resources people did use, counseling, clubs, and the gym were mentioned.

 “I’ve started going to the gym. I wasn’t able to back where I used to live and I think that it’s a really underrated way to help both mental and physical health.” was an interesting response because nobody else had mentioned the gym. It’s also very relevant because not only can mental health be hurt in college, but so can your diet, and that’s an issue not often talked about.

Taylor Holmwood

Speaking to these people went not how I expected. We received more positive responses than negative ones. Knowing me and my experiences so far, they definitely are very different than what most of the respondents said. 

Most of the respondents shared that their mental and physical well being had increased in a positive way. Some of what they said was that they were more successful academically and that they expanded their interests.  Also one of them expressed, “there was not much for them to “deal” with” so when asked how they dealt with things there was no answer. It’s good that they don’t have a problem to fix, but, I think that there should be some more awareness about the resources Temple does have to offer, just in case.

On the other hand, my mental and physical health has been impacted negatively. In my first semester, I was struggling academically and it was the outcome of the decline of my mental health. I went to the Tuttleman Counseling Center and through them, I met with a therapist. As much as it did help me to meet with someone it was a temporary help when what I needed was something long term. When you get to the point where you are seeking help there must have been some build-up to get you to this point. So once you finally get some help only getting the bare minimum won’t cut it.  One of the respondents who also went to counseling agreed, they said, “resources at Temple are good but there should be more than what they give”. In response to one of our questions that asked if Temple has the adequate resources to help people dealing with these issues, even one of the respondents that had shown they have had a very fruitful experience in college had this to say, “personally even when I’m not experiencing this, no”.