When you become a university student, there should be some worries. We had worries when we were in middle and high school. However, they were not the same kinds of worries. Therefore, there is a place in Kyonggi University where students who have worries can visit to talk about their problems and be counseled at the same time. The Pharos interviewed one of counselors at the College Life Counseling Center in Kyonggi. Through the interview, let's dig into the College Life Counseling Center or Dalle.
1. Could you tell us about the College Life Counseling Center?
The College Life Counseling Center moved in March from the 5th floor of Building 1 to the 4th floor of the Student Union Building. In fact, we have to publicize this change more to students because many of them are confused after we moved here. The reason we moved to the Student Union Building is that lots of students come to this building compared to the previous place. We have 7 people in our office including 3 professional counselors and 4 interns. We run our center from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. during the semesters and from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. during the vacations.
2. Would you tell us why students come to the College Life Counseling Center and what is the scope of the counseling?
There are a lot of reasons why students visit us. Among them, stresses from schoolwork and careers are the top reasons that make them visit us. The scope of counseling is not really fixed because every student has different worries and stories so our counseling of students ranges from wide subject areas to narrow ones.
3. Please tell us how to apply the counseling.
Students have to give us a phone call before coming to the office (phone no. 031-249-9574-5). When they call us, we tell them when to visit our center and fill out an application form. Students must visit the College Life Counseling Center to apply for counseling because we have to decide whether they have to be interviewed or examined using a diagnostic computer program. Students cannot apply for counseling online because our website is not operational yet.
4.Can students choose particular counselors?
Yes. Students definitely can choose their counselors; professional counselors or peers. What students need to do is just tell us who they want to be counseled by. If students cannot tell us directly, they absolutely must write down their choice when they fill out the application. However, if the peer counselor decides that the student needs professional counseling while counseling, the peer tells and we reassign the student to a professional
counselor. Also, if students want to be counseled by both a professional counselor and a peer, that is absolutely possible, too.
5. Do you counsel students until the problem is solved or do you only counsel them for a certain time?
Basically, 15 times of counseling per student is the standard we have. We meet students once a week at the same time for 15 weeks in total. However, it is just a standard so students can stop counseling if their problems are solved or can continue counseling if they think their problems are not solved. Of course, there are some students who think that
we are ineffectual and quit, but we always do our best to solve the problems. That's the most important goal for us. If students do not show up at a normal counseling time, we immediately call the students and ask what happened to them. Also, we ask the students if they want to continue the counseling or not. If they do not want to continue, we don't just say "OK" on the phone. We tell them to come to our office and have a conversation face-to-face to explain why they want to stop counseling. Then we decide whether to let them stop or not.
6. What are the programs and contents that are available at the College Life Counseling Center?
Starting this semester, we have run the Re-start program. In this program, we try to figure out what are Academic Warning recipients' problems and how best to help them. The emotional part is handled by the College Life Counseling Center and the Human Resources Development Center helps with learning strategies and learning methods. The difficulties related to majors are addressed with professor's help. Thus, these three parties help them. Also, we administered an adaptation test to new students during Orientation. It examined the entire new student population in order to find out who could have difficulties in adjusting to school life. The results of the examination were explored during the "Searching for a Major and Career" period in March. Besides these activities, there is collective counseling with a small group of students. They get together and talk about subjects like self-expression for two to three hours a week and meet five times. For example, we
have a plan to talk with Chinese and English friends about their school adaptation.
7. Please let me know the recruitment date and activity content of peer counseling.
An initial peer counseling team was called "Toreore" and second team is "Dalle", which is currently active. "Dalle" members were recruited after the final exams last semester and educated during the winter vacation. The third team will be recruited after the final exams of this semester, and they will be educated during the summer vacation. Peer counselors are ones who are requested personally and who promote the center and its programs.
8. What inconveniences have you experienced while running the College Life Counseling Center?
Sometimes when we hold a program, students' participation is low. If there are no participants in the program, the program is canceled and students will not be able to apply for the program. As a result, a vicious cycle will inevitably be repeated. In other words, if you don't want to participate, we can't open the program, so you get fewer chances to participate in the program and eventually students' benefits are decreased. It may be thought that the publicity is not good enough, but there are posters in the bathrooms and elsewhere. Also, after students enter a company, their own time will be decreased. As university students, they can get to know themselves and they have a lot of time to learn about themselves. If students have a consultation with an outside agency, much time and money are spent. Therefore, we hope students will be active and participate a lot.
9. Please tell me anything else you want to say.
We hope students will be willing to participate in the counseling program. When someone
says, "I think you need some counseling," people must not think, "Is there something
wrong with me?" After moving to the Students' Hall, the center is likely to be noticed
easily. However, there might be students who think the counseling center is too exposed so other people can see who is receiving counseling. Always remember, you go to a hospital when you have a cold. So similarly, you can visit the center anytime you have a problem and visiting a counseling room is a courageous act. I hope students will get rid of their preconceptions and come frequently like going to the doctor's office.
Students can knock on the College Life Counseling Center's door whenever they want to talk with someone, even if they have no big problems. The Pharos hopes students will visit the College Life Counseling Center frequently, and also that they will participate in their programs with interest.
Shall We Dance?
There are moments that you want to get away from. Sometimes life is overwhelming and you might think that you’re too fragile. Due to personal reasons, I felt like that while working on this issue. Although I felt helpless, somehow I got over it. You control your own life. Your society is where you belong. You should take responsibility for your life and society and take good care of yourself. What I tried not to forget is this quote by Viv...
[심층보도] 캠퍼스타운, 본교 발전의 초석 될까
[와이파이] 성인 엑스포, 단순 행사인가 유사 성매매인가
[방구석 시사회] ‘괴물 형사’ 마석도, 네 번째 진실의 방으로
[진리터] 우후죽순 발생하는 이슈, 관심으로 찾을 수 있는 권리
목록
