During the week of Oct. 19 -23, Student Survivor Workshops have been offering helpful tips for Washburn students on campus.

Friendly advisors and counselors have been discussing topics that affect all college students such as sleep habits, academic advising and time management strategies. Unfortunately, no one is taking advantage of these workshops.

The decline in attendance for helpful mini-seminars is not only a trend at Washburn University, but the University of Kansas, Kansas State University and Creighton have all seen similar declines in attendance. Don Vest of the Center for Undergraduate Studies and Programs and counselor, held multiple workshops last week and understands that students already have plenty on their plate without attending sessions discussing “Brain Food” and learning college lifestyle tips.

The college student of today is constantly faced with information and an over stimulation of the senses without the addition of workshops. Vest believes that “students are overwhelmed by the novelty and variety” that the fast paced world of Internet and our in-your-face culture offers. While full time students may be physically in the classroom for only 12 hours a week, it often takes 20-25 hours outside of the classroom to keep up with homework and studying. “There is an information overload situation occurring [with the students]” Vest said.

While workshops may offer helpful information, none of it will be on any test or assignment and thus is deemed unnecessary. Students may choose to relax or work on assignments that will instantly have an effect on the immediate future in terms of grades and well-being.

The scheduling of the workshops are assumed to have conflicted with many busy schedules. Even with the transition to a more traditional university, “90 percent of the student body works part or full time,” Vest observed.

Early afternoon workshops such as the “Brain Food,” “Sleep for Success” and “How Big Is Your E?” workshops took place during regular class hours and attendance was either minimal or completely absent. “3,000 students” at any one time maybe undecided or wanting to declare a major, and yet only one student attended the Academic Advising workshop. That student was able to receive personalized attention from Advisors and benefited greatly.

Early spring enrollment is around the corner, and masses of students will be filing into the Advisor offices for feedback. But, because it is still a few weeks a way, students have chosen to procrastinate and wait until a closer date to talk with these lovely ladies.

Sleep deprivation, poor dietary decisions, and poor time management skills all have the ability to affect the mental and physical well-being of a student, and all have been topics of workshops. But, many will wait and procrastinate until the stress is intolerable before they find help and tips to manage it.

While it may be aggrieving to sacrifice time, it can be greatly beneficial to prepare yourself through these wonderful workshops Washburn is offering to the student body.

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