After summer break, adjusting back to university life can be tough on students, but they don’t have to do it alone at Marshall.

Counselor Michele Sigler said the fall semester is an equally interesting and busy time of year for the university. She said the counseling center sees an influx of walk-ins for students who are feeling home sick and adjusting back to college routines.

“One of the things as a counselor that I do when I’m talking with primarily incoming students is the different resources that are on campus,” Sigler said. “All the different groups, the different organizations, trying to find what their interests are and trying to hook them up to different organizations, so they don’t feel like they are all alone.”

Sigler said during the summer students tend to get relaxed when it comes to their sleep schedule and their eating habits and often forget about the structured routine of going to class each day. 

Even though it might seem daunting to students at first, Sigler said the big thing to remember when it comes to the fall semester is finding the best time management techniques. 

“As strange as it may sound, I sometimes sit down with my students and have a week calendar with 15-minute increments each day. I not only have them schedule in when they have to be in class, but I have them schedule in study time, time when they are going to eat, time they are going to go to sleep and wake up.”

Sigler said a common concern among students is a lack of time, but once they sat down and put it on a calendar, they could find the time to take care of themselves.

“You’re so focused into what you’re doing, it’s kind of like once you get the ball rolling, you don’t want to stop,” Sigler said. “You just want to get it over with and time does completely pass and then you wonder ‘Why am I so tired?’, ‘Why do I feel so bad?’, ‘Why do I not have energy to go and do something with my friends?’ Because you’re not eating. You’re not sleeping. You have got to take care of yourself.”

Likewise, Sigler said Marshall has a community that is filled with support for new and returning students. With Student Support Services, peer support and the Counseling Center, she said there are people here at the university to talk to and connect with.

“Give yourself some grace.  Give yourself the time to adjust. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself that, ‘I have to be on my A-game on August 18 at 8:00 in the morning from then till the end of the semester,’” Sigler said. “Give yourself some grace to get readjusted, to take time to take everything back in. Get yourself into the groove of things and just be patient with yourself.”

Soleil Woolard can be contacted at [email protected].