Student Council: Sleep & Stress Forum with Administration!

Living at IMSA is by no means an easy experience, and many of us continually struggle with sleep deprivation and stress. In an effort to combat these issues and unearth possible solutions, Student Council has framed ideas to help the student body.

For a start, Student Council identified the main factors that lead to stress in our daily lives. These factors were classified into three categories: Environment/Culture, Academic/Personal Skills, and Student Activities. Then, ideas were brainstormed and possible solutions were formulated to address each specific category:

Environment/Culture: This category was created to encompass the stress factors, such as peer pressure, internal and external expectations, and social distractions, that arise from daily life and the overarching environment at IMSA. In order to decrease the stress students face, Student Council has come up with several ideas that allow for a more relaxed environment in which everyone can feel comfortable. These ideas include altered training schedules for RSLs that incorporate mediation skills, allowing for CACs to dispel college myths in an official presentation, and having designated study areas for students to be able to focus throughout the day.

Academic/Personal Skills: Academic/Personal skills addresses the factors of stress which stem from school work, teacher expectations, and students’ inability to manage their time well. To combat these issues, Student Council proposes the introduction of “Inquiry-Time”, a program which would encourage teachers to allot a partitioned time-frame for independent work and inquiry time towards the end of class. Furthermore, Student Council is working on the creation of a “Guide to IMSA”, which incorporates various teacher, alumni, and current student perspectives in regard to the academics, residential life, and general student opportunities at IMSA.

Student Activities: The last category addresses a big part of our community – extracurricular activities. In an effort to regulate the commitment of students in certain activities and to help them avoid over-involvement, Student Council proposes the introduction of a rule which would limit the number of presidential positions any individual student can hold. Additionally, Student Council is in favor of implementing a policy that would require that club presidents not be on academic probation, or they would be suspended from their position. Furthermore, in general, Student Council seeks to improve the effectiveness of club oversight.

If you would like to hear more ideas, voice your own, or talk to admin about the problems our community faces, come to Student Council’s Sleep & Stress Forum on December 3rd at 7:00 P.M. in the auditorium! Together, we can make IMSA just a bit more livable.