Campus LifeNews

Reading week tips from Counselling and Clinical Services

While students use reading week to recuperate from university stress, Jason Murray says there isn’t a special time to catch up on mental health care.

February 21 marks the start of winter reading week at the University of Alberta. Murray, a psychologist with Counselling and Clinical Services, said students shouldn’t feel guilty about resting during the week off.

“You do need a break when you’re doing hard, intensive work, which being a student is,” he said. “Those breaks aren’t a sign of weakness or a sign that you can’t cope, they’re actually functional.”

Murray said students can prevent stress during reading week by balancing school and wellness as best they can.

“Sometimes students think of reading week as the ‘mental health break,’” he said. “That’s actually not a helpful way to look at it because it suggests we should only be concerned about our mental health the two weeks of the eight months of the school year.”

Before fall reading week was added to the U of A’s academic calendar last year, November was the busiest month of the year for Counselling and Clinical Services. Although winter reading week has been around longer, February is a similarly busy and stressful time for students as they tackle midterms, Murray said.

The best way to take care of mental health varies by student, Murray said. For some students, taking a break to sleep, eat well, exercise, and socialize will be important so they can go back to working hard after the break. Others might benefit the most from catching up on work during the break.

“Doing some work over the break might help alleviate some of their anxiety,” Murray said. “For some students, the best way for them to reduce their stress is to make sure they’re on top of their work.”

Reading week is also an important time for students to think about how they’re coping, Murray added. Students should evaluate their academics, social life, and health — campus resources that are open include the gym and Counselling and Clinical Services.

“Reading week is a time to pause, to reflect on what you need,” he said. “It’s also time to seek help if you need to seek help. But there’s no one week you should wait for to seek help.”

One reading week, two reading weeks, UBC reading weeks, U of A reading weeks

After nearly four years of Students’ Union advocacy for introducing a fall reading week to the U of A, the first break was scheduled November 2015. Some schools, such as the University of British Columbia and McGill, don’t have fall reading weeks. When he was an undergraduate, Murray only had winter reading week, but he took that time to work because he was paying his own way through school.

“I don’t usually get caught up in the narrative of before and after which is often, ‘When I was a student I didn’t need two reading weeks and I only got one and I did okay,’” he said. “I hate that whole storyline, I don’t support it.”

Murray doesn’t think students take having two reading weeks for granted. If they choose to go on vacation and that’s what they need he supports that choice, if they choose to catch up on their work he supports that too.

“I hope students don’t see (reading week) as just their opportunity to zone out,” he said. “I hope students see it as a time when they should be taking care of their health and wellness to be a good student all year long.”

Sofia Osborne

Sofia is a fourth-year English major with a minor in philosophy. She's been writing for The Gateway since the first day of her first year because she wants to be Rory Gilmore when she grows up. Now, she's the Managing Editor and is in charge of the print magazine.

Related Articles

Back to top button