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Unlocking College Life
Unlocking College Life episodes
- Ep14: Student Athlete Mental Health - Derek Schaedig
Ilona and Joy talk with Derek Schaedig, a senior psychology major and men’s hockey player for Harvard University. Derek discusses his own mental health struggles, and the perseverance it takes to reframe failures and build resilience to hardships.
Key Takeaways:
- How Derek challenged the stigma associated with mental health
- The importance of athletes and peers sharing mental health stories and struggles
- Being a leader and good teammate can also mean showing that you’re struggling
- Who reached out first to encourage Derek to ask for help, and why that mattered
- Shifting perspectives on failure and redefining success
- The three words on Derek’s wall that he looks at every day
- You can always handle more than you think you can
- Down but Not Out by Derek Schaedig
22 min - Ep13: Finding Belonging And Purpose In College - Dolores Perales
Ilona and Joy talk with Dolores Perales, who is a recipient of the Young Climate Leader Award through the Michigan Climate Action Network. Her journey through college was not easy, and is also full of inspiration and impact.
Key Takeaways:
- How to follow your own path?
- Dolores’ passion about the intersectionality between environmental justice and health
- Building off past meaningful experiences to help determine one’s major
- Navigating the barriers of being a first-generation college student
- The tension between wanting to be a role-model for others and feeling like an imposter
- The game changers for Dolores - what helped her decide not to drop out
- The power of mentoring and being mentored
- Advice for taking care of your mental health as a college student
The Michigan Climate Action Network is comprised of more than 70 organizations and 30,000 individuals and partners with many coalitions and campaigns working for climate solutions and justice. The organization’s mission is to connect and amplify individuals, communities, and organizations confronting the climate crisis in Michigan and support them in advancing equitable climate solutions with the urgency science demands for the environment and all that live in it.
The inaugural Michigan Climate Awards recognize Michiganders doing exceptional work in these areas. The Young Climate Leader Award goes to a student or other young person going above and beyond as a volunteer or individual.
One of the many people who nominated Perales wrote, “As a classmate of Dolores', I've learned so much from her, and watch her work tirelessly to fundraise and promote events that educate our community. She is an inspiration and deserves the Young Climate Leader award.”
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- Instagram: Unlocking College Life
33 min - Ep12: Is My Phone Controlling Me?
Joy and Ilona discuss the different layers of social media and phone use, it’s benefits, drawbacks and potential for compulsive use. *How does this play out for you? Where do these enhance your life and where do they do the opposite? Any changes you want to make?
Key Takeaways:
- What are signs that your phone is negatively impacting your well-being?
- Catching yourself in the moment - as you reach for your phone - as progress in itself.
- What is one good question to ask yourself when you go to check your phone?
- The connection between your values and intentional phone usage.
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- Instagram: Unlocking College Life
18 min - Ep11: Basking In Imperfection - Sarah Renberg
Joy and Ilona are joined by Sarah Renberg, an honor student with a unique backstory, who has spent her college career reframing her own definitions of success and failure.
Key Takeaways:
- How failures become an asset and a measure for growth
- Aligning everyday small habits with personal values
- Understanding mindfulness as doing your own detective work
- Why Sarah faked her college stories for a while
- The best thing Sarah ever did in college
About Sarah Renberg
Sarah is undergraduate student at the University of Michigan studying Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience. She tries to bring humor, basic understanding of neuroscience and her own experience living with a brain injury since 2014 to working with Love Your Brain.
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- Instagram: Unlocking College Life
32 min - Ep10: Boundaries And School Breaks
Joy and Ilona offer encouragement around setting boundaries with family and friends around the holidays. Where might you hope to assert a boundary, and where might you consider letting down your guard?
Key Takeaways:
- Noticing what triggers come up for you around the holidays
- How to respond to unsolicited comments or tensions
- Examining the different types of boundaries
- How people-pleasing can get in the way
- Mindfully noticing why home feels different now
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- Instagram: Unlocking College Life
19 min - Ep09: Connection and Student Leadership - Thomas Vance
Joy and Ilona are joined by Thomas Vance, a first-year law student at Columbia Law School. Thomas reflects on his experiences as both an undergraduate and a graduate student, student leadership, and his focus on maintaining connections and relationships amidst hardship.
Key Takeaways:
- Who to lean on when unexpected life events happen in college
- Exploring alternative forms of help-seeking
- Community building as a reciprocal form of support
- Questioning aspects of the resilience narrative
- What Thomas wishes he had figured out a lot sooner
- What to do if you feel like you’re in too deep as a student leader
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32 min - Ep08: Connecting Or Avoiding
Ilona and Joy discuss the hesitations college students face when wanting to reach out to new people. What can you do to boost your confidence in making friends, and finding the people with whom you truly connect.
Key takeaways
- Taking small vulnerable risks in connecting with others
- How to be truly present with others instead of in our own heads
- Reframing rejection
- How to figure out who you click with
- What role does alcohol sometimes play?
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- Instagram: Unlocking College Life
22 min - Ep07: Opening Doors: Connecting On College Campuses - Naomi Alvarado And Sanil Mittal
Joy and Ilona are joined by two students, Naomi and Sanil, who share their inside perspectives on navigating college life, making friends, and loneliness.
Key Takeaways
- How to navigate campus mental health resources
- Advice for first-year students who might be feeling disconnected
- How to find your community
- How your own openness allows others to feel less alone
About Naomi Alvarado and Sanil Mittal
Naomi Alvarado is going to be a Sophomore this fall. She is majoring in Psychology and minoring in Applied Statistics at University of Michigan Dearborn Campus. She loves to read, paint, play the saxophone, and work with children. She is also the founder of The Unseen United Project and she’s also a child research assistant.
Sanil Mittal is currently a Freshman and an Astronomy and Astrophysics Major. He is also one of the LSA Honor students.
Connect with Naomi and Sanil
- Naomi’s Instagram: @naomi.alv_
- Sanil’s Book: Ask Me Anything: 17 Answers To Your Questions About US College Applications
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- Instagram: Unlocking College Life
24 min - Ep06: Imposter Syndrome
Joy and Ilona discuss the topic of imposter syndrome. They explore ways students can reframe comparisons with others, and challenge negative self-talk.
Key Takeaways
- The difference between perfectionism and high standards
- How tracking the facts can help with self-doubt
- The bi-directional impact of naming our struggles and failures
- What cognitive defusion has to do with it
Resource/Link mentioned
- Cognitive Defusion
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19 min - Ep05: Connection and Relationships
In today's episode, Joy and Ilona ask you to consider what kinds of connections and relationships you truly want in college. How do you learn to create boundaries with some people, and take small risks to build deeper connections with others?
Key Takeaways
- Knowing yourself: Do you prefer a small number of close relationships, or a bigger group of friends?
- The different types of loneliness
- How to set small goals, and take small risks when reaching out to others
- The value of reciprocity in close relationships
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17 min
About Unlocking College Life
From the publisher's feed
Welcome to Unlocking College Life!
Real talk about all things college -- the good, the bad, the messy, the complicated, all of it. And you get to participate! Our show incorporates what you have to say -- your questions and your feedback.
We go beyond our experiences working in higher education and mental health with hundreds of students like you. We reflect on current and ever-present issues of college students, with you and our guests. We‘ll encourage you to try new things in order to connect differently with yourself and others. And we hope to help you shift your perspectives on the college experience, authoring your own path. Let‘s dive in.