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Here is a drone shot of the beautiful campus at Washington State. We Want You At Wsu. (2022). photograph, Pullman.

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As an incoming freshman you might be wondering what it means to become a Coug. While professors might say going to the football games, attending career fairs or even getting cougar calves is what its all about , they don’t talk about the struggles along the way. There’s a lot more to becoming a coug than the fun stuff. Students often deal with hardships relating to mental heath, dietary health and time management crisis’. Luckily for us Cougs, WSU has a plethora of recourses to combat these common struggles.

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Photo was taken from the Cougar Health Services website https://cougarhealth.wsu.edu/hours-and-location/

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In general, people can have times when they struggle with their mental health. College students struggling with mental health can be triggered by anything whether they fall into a hole and feel depressed or anxious, feel homesick, or if their academic roll/schedule starts to become too much to handle. Luckily, we are fortunate to have so many resources here on campus. Cougar Health Services provide counseling here at WSU and they give six free sessions for every student here on campus. Other resources that are available to all students are the Dean of Students. The Dean of students helps people with any kind of problem, it could be mental health, financial help, SA reports, food, and even help to request to check up on a friend in need of help anonymously. Even though all these things may feel like they are in different categories, they all lead back to your mental health.
Even if you feel like you don't want to talk to anyone in person they have a hotline and other numbers to call to make sure that you feel comfortable. They even have virtual meetings that are available to you as well.
The best thing about WSU is that they keep good care of all their students and make sure that they don't go through anything alone.

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Here is a picture taken by Zawadi Leon of just one of the many study sections within our WSU Library.

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Are you a student who often finds yourself struggling to focus on the task at hand, or wasting more time than intended? Well you are not alone because studies have shown that it is common amongst students to not know how to take advantage of spending time properly. However, WSU has a multiple options for students to chose from in order to better their time usage. From the library to the study lounges in the chinook center students can take initiative and access these top notch study centers if they find that they can not work in their dorm or apartment. For a lot of people the reason they tend to remain un focused when trying to do their work is because they have too many distractions. Places like the library and study lounges are perfect for just that because they allow you to isolate from everything and focus on one thing at a time.

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Here is a picture from Toby Daneman of WSU’s food pantry

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In college you may experience times where food just isn’t in the budget and Instant ramen just doesn't hit like it used too. Rayya EL Zein a PHD researcher on this issue found that, “many students experience economic hardships and financial stress that can translate into a budget with significant essential bills (tuition, textbooks, housing), leaving a strain with respect to more flexible expenses, like those allocated to consistent access to adequate and nutritious food.” Stereotypes of the broke college student are evident in many different forms of American media. You might be asking how can i avoid this stereotype, how can students overcome these hardships. There has been countless study’s on this issue including El Zein’s but one constant between them is the need for affordable and healthy options. Well luckily for us cougs , WSU has answered this with the cougar food pantry. With WSU’s food pantry, those in need can access such. But that doesn’t change the stigmas surrounding food banks and pantry’s. Its common for students to feel ashamed when receiving handouts. It’s important Ito remember that its up to us cougs to make each other feel safe and welcomed while accessing all of WSU’s resources.

References

El Zein, A., Mathews, A. E., House, L., & Shelnutt, K. P. (2018). Why are hungry college students not seeking help? Predictors of and barriers to using an on-campus food pantry. Nutrients, 10(9), 1163.

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If you’re an incoming Coug its smart to prepare yourself for these common college struggles. With them in mind it might be smart to familiarize yourself with the resources WSU has to offer. Visiting these locations ahead of time through a campus tour or even during the first week of classes could prove to be helpful when crisis do occur later on.