The Willimantic Center

This afternoon I was at the Willimantic Center, which is a satellite campus of one of the colleges where I work. In three hours I had seven or eight appointments with students. One young lady has a severe anxiety disorder and is stressed-out about being able to keep up with her coursework. An older lady is losing her vision and struggles with learning college material, but still enjoys school and wants to continue.

Another student, about thirty-five, was all excited about making the dean's list last semester after being a poor student as a young person, but DCF is investigating her and her five-year-old child. Another woman with a severe psycho-social disability is worried about having to make presentations to her Speech Communication class.

A young man named Miguel is in his first semester and his parents don't understand the demands of being a full-time college student- they expect him to run errands and do things for them. He is worried about getting it all done and is wondering if he should drop one of his courses.

Sometimes there are solutions I can suggest but sometimes all I can do is be a listener and let them know that I understand and that I support them in what they're trying to do.