Tag Archives: #RoanokeCollege

Classes, Events, Mid Terms

Midterm Stress Relief

Are you feeling the pressure of midterms week on the Roanoke College campus? Don’t worry, you are not alone! In this blog post, we will look at some of the resources available on campus to help manage stress and make midterms week a bit more bearable. Midterm week can be a stressful time for college students, but it doesn’t have to be. With the help of Roanoke College’s campus resources, students can practice self-care and find strategies to manage their stress levels during this hectic time. So, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, read on to find out how you can make midterms week a little less stressful.

Make your best efforts to adhere to the following reminders:

  • Manage your time! Whether this be in consideration of course work, exercise, sleep, mental health needs, etc., make a plan of when you’re going to set aside time for each of these to-dos and stick to your schedule!
  • Learn to say no! Manage your expectations for yourself and learn to prioritize certain needs/responsibilities over others.
  • Get quality sleep!  We know that sleep is beneficial for our mental and physical wellbeing. Make it a priority this week in order to be a better version of yourself. You, and others, will be happier if you do this!
  • Take breaks! Studying for hours on end can become ineffective at a certain rate. Take 5-15-minute breaks when you start to catch yourself dozing off or not entirely focused on the material. Get some fresh air, go on a short walk, grab a healthy snack, chat with a friend and take a deep breath… it’s almost fall break!

Below is a schedule of events/activities being hosted on campus within the next week. While you’re creating a schedule for yourself, block out some time to attend at least 1 of the following events. Your brain and body will be glad that you did!

TOMORROW, OCTOBER 7th

Out of the Darkness Walk – A community walk to raise awareness and funding for suicide prevention and mental health awareness. Check-in is at 9:00am and the opening ceremony begins at 10:00am.

Register here: https://supporting.afsp.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=9239

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8

4:00-5:00 – Cycle Jam (Alumni 211)

MONDAY, OCTOBER 9

4:45-5:45 – Spin Class (Alumni 211)

7:30-8:30 – Line Dance (Bast 109)

  • Learned and review a variety of line dance songs.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10

12:00-2:00 – Pickleball with students, faculty and staff (Bast Gym)

  • No equipment needed!

4:30-5:15 – Meditation Sound Bath Session #1 (Colket Center Ballroom)

  • Listening to music helps you relax and release stress.
  • Sign Up at the Info Desk

5:00-6:00 – Body Pump (Bast 109)

  • Total body workout class using light to moderate weights with lots of repetition.

5:30-6:15 – Meditation Sound Bath Session #2 (Colket Center Ballroom)

  • Listening to music helps you relax and release stress.
  • Sign Up at the Info Desk

6:15-7:15 – Lower Body Sculpt (Bast 109)

  • Focuses on movements that target and strengthen the muscles in and around your legs/glutes.
  • Some cardio involved.

7:30-8:15 – Mindfulness Meditation and Stretching (Bast 109)

  • Guides you through breathing and meditational exercises.
  • Relieves mental stress and improves concentration.
  • Involves gentle yoga, stretching and more!

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11

4:45-5:45 – Kickboxing (Bast 109)

  • Cardio style class using kickboxing techniques to have a good workout.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12

12:00-2:00 – Pickleball with students, faculty and staff (Bast Gym)

  • No equipment needed!

4:45-5:45 – Body Pump (Bast 109)

  • Total body workout class using light to moderate weights with lots of repetition.

Get Connected!

Blog: https://psych.pages.roanoke.edu/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rcpsychology
Twitter: @RC_Psychology
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/RC-Psychology-8140491/about
Website: http://www.roanoke.edu/inside/a-z_index/psychology
Instagram: rcpsychology

Events, Uncategorized

Black Student Alliance Presents Faculty/Staff vs. Students Basketball Tournament

Tonight – Friday, September 23, at 7:00p, the Black Student Alliance is hosting a Faculty/Staff vs Students Basketball game in Bast Gym. Dr. Nichols, chair of the Psychology Department, will be playing (loosely defined). It would be great to see support from the Psychology department for all participants!

Black Student Alliance presents Faculty/Staff vs Students Basketball Tournament
7:00 p.m.
Bast Center, Gym

Let’s boost our school spirit and morale as faculty and staff take on students in a basketball tournament!

Get Connected!

Blog: https://psych.pages.roanoke.edu/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rcpsychology
Twitter: @RC_Psychology
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/RC-Psychology-8140491/about
Website: http://www.roanoke.edu/inside/a-z_index/psychology
Instagram: rcpsychology

Uncategorized

Out of the Darkness Walk Oct. 1st

Mark your calendars!

This year’s Salem-Roanoke Out of the Darkness Walk for suicide prevention is taking place on Saturday October 1st. The annual event is hosted by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) to raise awareness and support for suicide prevention.

RCPA and Psi Chi are joining the Roanoke community by walking as a team. The event begins at 10am at the Cregger Center right here on campus. All psychology students and faculty are encouraged to sign up to walk with the team or donate to AFSP at the link below:

https://supporting.afsp.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.team&teamID=305370

We hope to see you there.

Get Connected!

Classes, Fun, Undergraduate News

Dr. Powell’s May Term Trip to Thailand Part II

Gallery

In Part I, we talked about the more academic side of the trip and some differences noticed between cultures. In Part II of the Thailand May Term, we will discuss the more inherently fun and less academic parts of the trip, because, even though this was a class, it was still an experience of a lifetime.

For Dr. Darcey Powell, in addition to the conversations the group had with locals, her two favorite experiences were the Muay Thai boxing class and their day as mahouts:

[…] In the Muay Thai boxing class, we learned about that style of boxing and practiced the techniques. As mahouts, we learned how to take care of elephants with respect to feeding and bathing, as well as how to ride elephants, and then put what we learned into practice with our own elephant for the day.

Dr. Darcey Powell

Students’ experiences as mahouts at the Patara Elephant Farm in Chiang Mai was definitely one of the most favorite and memorable experiences of the trip, as Peyton Holahan ’19 recounts:

We spent the entire day playing with and learning about elephants. It really does not get much better than that in my opinion. We were greeted in the morning by the director of Patara who explained their mission as an elephant sanctuary focused on educating individuals about the health and well-being of these beautiful animals. Each person got assigned an elephant (or two) to spend the day with and it was pure magic. I was one of the lucky ones to get assigned both a mom elephant and her two-year-old baby. They told us that they assigned the elephants based on our personalities but I am certainly not planning on having kids anytime soon. I learned how to groom, feed, and bathe my elephants. Bathing them was by far the most fun because this involved getting on their backs and scrubbing them with a brush in the river. This was also really refreshing because Thailand’s climate is HOT.

A group picture interrupted by cuteness at Patara Elephant Sanctuary, picture courtesy of Dr. Powell

Along with our elephants we were partnered with mahouts who are the elephants’ caretakers and trainers. Our mahouts assisted us throughout the day in helping us ride the elephants and showing us how to take care of them. Patara is such a unique elephant sanctuary in Thailand in that they do not cage the elephants but rather let them roam freely because their mission is focused on recovery, reproduction, and reintroduction of elephants into the wild. Patara is one of the most humane elephant farms in Thailand for that reason and I am so glad that Dr. Powell chose this once in lifetime opportunity for us all to experience.

Holahan ’19

Sarah Hughes agrees with Holahan, giving her own description of her experience at the elephant farm.

I had been looking forward to going to the elephant farm since I had signed up for the trip, so I was tremendously thrilled when I found out that we each would have our own elephant for the day. We had the opportunity to feed our elephant sugar cane and bananas, inspect them for good health, bathe them, and ride them for their daily walk. I quickly learned that elephants like to eat a lot and eat quickly. This was because every time I would feed my elephant she would get mad at me and start to yell because I was not feeding her enough at a time and not quick[ly] enough. We then had the chance to speak to them in Thai and make sure they had slept properly the night before and were happy and healthy.

The next part was my favorite part of the trip. […] We had the opportunity to scrub them and play in the water with each of our elephants. It was interesting to see that some of the elephants really liked the water and others did not. Afterwards we rode our elephants to lunch. This ride was not what I was expecting, as we rode for thirty minutes straight up a mountain and only had a rope to hold on to.

Dr. Powell and a baby elephant, courtesy of Dr. Powell

Molly Zydel ’19 seconded the opinions of her fellow students, adding that:

The trip as a whole was absolutely amazing. I couldn’t have asked for a better first experience out of the country. As for favorite parts of the trip, I absolutely adored our time in Chaing Mai. The city was gorgeous, and not near[ly] as overwhelming as Bangkok was. It reminded me a lot of home, which is why I think I loved it so much. While we were in that city, we also had an excursion where we got to be elephant care takers for a day. We each had our own elephant and we got to feed them, bathe them, and ride them. That day was phenomenal. It feels so surreal, even though I have pictures to prove it happened.

Zydel ’19

Hughes also mentioned a number of other fun activities that students were able to experience.

Some other things we did during the trip were visiting many temples all over Thailand, including the Grand Palace. We went to an adventure park at our hotel in Phetchabun, which is in the mountains, visited a factory, and went to Koh Samui, which is a gorgeous island in Thailand. We also were able to take a Muay Thai Boxing class, go to a rooftop restaurant, explore local night markets, and speak with monks.

Molly Zydel described her experience in Thailand as

[…] phenomenal. […] I could say so many things, but they all lead back to the statement of if you get the chance to travel abroad like this, do it. You won’t regret it. Even if it scares you half to death, do it. You find out somewhere in the middle of all of it that the experience is more exhilarating and eye-opening than it is scary. You change so much as a result of spending 3 weeks in another country that has such a different culture. Thailand was amazing. I just want to go back.

Ultimately, as Kiah Coflin ’19 concludes,

There are only so many aspects of a culture you can learn through a classroom […] [as seeing things] first hand teaches lessons better than any textbook ever can.

 

To see more pictures, go here to the official Facebook for the Thailand May Term. If you haven’t read the first part of the Thailand blog post, click here.

Thank you to everyone who helped with this post and were willing to write and submit pictures.

 

Get connected!
Instagram & Twitter:  #PsychRC @RC_Psychology
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/rcpsychology
Blog:  https://psych.pages.roanoke.edu/
Linked In:  https://www.linkedin.com/groups/RC-Psychology-8140491/about
Website:  http://www.roanoke.edu/inside/a-z_index/psychology