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“The purpose of the Resource Fair was to give students an opportunity to become aware of the resources we offer on campus as well as getting know the wonderful people behind these resources,” Coordinator of the Warrior Resource Fair and third-year student Payden Bainbridge said.
The Warrior Resource Fair was held in Kryzsko Ballroom on Oct. 17. This event was a chance for students to meet and reach out to different types of resources on campus. While this event took up only three hours of the school day, much more planning was behind it.
“This event was inspired by me being a freshman orientation leader this year and realizing how much students do not know when they leave that orientation and will never know if they don’t look for it,” Bainbridge said. “Being a third-year student and recently joining [Student] Senate I have learned about so many resources that we offer that I myself did not know what we offered.”
One of the resources at the event featured the Warrior Hub. Erica Mundt works in the Warrior Hub and her resource showcased in the resource fair works with registration, financial aid, student accounts, and more.
“When students are stuck and not sure where they’re supposed to go, they get referred to us and we help them figure that out,” Mundt said.
She also recommends you stop at their office in Maxwell 209. Mundt lets us in on one of the biggest things students miss.
“Students should set up direct deposit…direct deposit is necessary. If there’s any kind of refund due to the student, it has to go through direct deposit into a bank account,” Bundt said. “It is really essential that they get those set up in their E-services.”
She stresses that not setting up direct deposit is a common mistake students experience. Brenney Curry, a worker at the Student Accounts Office comments.
“I will say this, one of the hardest parts of my job is convincing students to let me give them money. Because of how the business office works, it is required that we do it through direct deposits.”
Members of Bainbridge’s committee spent days planning and coordinating with resources on campus and some of her committee members stood outside the event and encouraged students to come in.
“Planning this event as my first Chair event on senate was very fulfilling as I know I got to help almost 200 students find some type of information from our fair that will allow them to be one step closer to success,” Bainbridge said. “I was overly happy with the turnout and the commitment that my committee made to making this event as successful as we could.”
Lexie Yanta-Green is a health and wellness promotion coordinator with Health Services on campus partnered with counseling also featured at the fair.
“Health services is a clinic that’s on campus, available for students. We do have a free resource called Ask-a-nurse that students can contact if they ever need medical advice, but any appointments would be charged,” Yanta-Green said. “It goes through insurance first, and then any remaining costs is placed on the student account, but every student is automatically eligible for financial assistance. All they’d have to do is come in and ask and may not cover the entire cost of the service, but it will at least help reduce that cost.”
One of the mental health counselors, Lynda Brzezinski talks about mental health on campus and programs like counseling, The Well, and peer-to-peer counseling.
“Students come to counseling for lots of different reasons…three primary issues are typically depression, anxiety, and stress,” Brzezinski said, “There’s an email they can go to our counseling services website…and then the schedule will be provided to them.”
She also recommends a new counseling service in the residence halls, Peer-to-Peer. The program started last year in The Well located in the IWC and has since expanded to all over campus’ residence halls as well as in the KEAP Center.
“We have mental health counseling on campus, primarily individual counseling, but we do offer some groups as well. We also have a peer-to-peer program [with] trained peer counselors on campus who students can go see for more mild issues like adjustment stuff or a friend conflict.” Brzezinski said.
She adds that these counseling services are free. Partnered with Health services, counseling can also handle a student’s medical management of mental health.
“We can prescribe medications for depression and anxiety,” Brzezinski said. “We also can refer out to a tele-psychiatrist as well.”
Student Services Chair Representative and College of Nursing & Health Science Seat on Senate, Senator Bainbridge sends her gratitude to her committee in Senate for without them this event wouldn’t have happened.
“I was very persistent on getting all the resources on campus involved because WSU has too much to offer, and many students are just unaware of what there is or where they are located,” Bainbridge said. “I am excited to continue to fight for students on our campus and advocate for their success.”
