Free-time o’clock
Cynthia Gallegos/Pulse Graphic
Whether you’re a freshman or a returning student, the start of a semester can be stressful–so how can Vaqueros find time for themselves?
UTRGV students have access to the Counseling Center services paid for by tuition.
The Counseling Center includes individual, couples and group therapy where students can talk about issues such as depression and anxiety.
Clinical therapists offer students advice to help them navigate through their struggles.
“During the semester it is often I hear students struggling with school,” said Clinical Therapist at UTRGV, Bianca Esquivel-Bolanos.
Abigail Villegas, a UTRGV nursing junior, said she has school, work, church and her personal life to balance.
Villegas added she tries to schedule her classes in the morning so she has the afternoon free but it doesn’t always work out that way.
To help students such as Villegas find free time, Esquivel-Bolanos said she suggests students practice “time blocking.”
According to her, “time blocking” is a technique where students set a time for themselves and treat it as an appointment.
If a student has trouble deciding how to spend their free time, Esquivel-Bolanos suggests the following activities:
- Journal/Scrapbooking
- Hitting the gym
- Going for a walk
- Taking a nap
- Hanging out with friends or family
- Reading
- Scrolling on socials
- Yoga/Meditation
“Personal free time is not a luxury,” she said. “If you need a break to journal or to spend time with family or maybe even scrolling on TikTok, if it brings you joy, just for that reset, it’s necessary.”
Villegas said when she doesn’t have free time after school to de-stress, that’s when she feels the most burnt out.
Burnout, described by Christoper Albert, director of the Counseling Center at UTRGV, is when a person’s energy, motivation and concentration levels become overwhelmed by the amount of demands a person has, which results in a person’s system shutting down.
“After experiencing burnout, students should learn to set priorities and what those priorities mean to students,” Albert said.
An English major could set graduation as their priority, but as a burnt-out graduate they can realize they weren’t as passionate for their degree as they thought they were, described Albert as an example.
“If we are not living out our priorities then burnouts will keep happening,” he said.
To contact the UTRGV Counseling Center on the Brownsville campus visit BSTUN 2.10 or call (956) 882-3897. For Edinburg, visit EUCTR 109 or call (956) 665-2574.
