Counselors know that putting the pieces of college life together can be quite a challenge, therefore ETSU’S Counseling Center is offering to help students find exactly where those pieces fit.
“Solving the Puzzle of Life,” HDAL 2350, is a three-credit course offered each semester. “We help students find out who they are and learn grasp with their identity,” says Dr. Steve Brown, director of the Counseling Center and former president of the Association of University and College Counseling Center Directors.
“They learn how to fit into relationships and effective thought control,” he said. “We push students to say what is important to them so they can understand themselves.”
Students learn methods for relaxation and stress relief, lifestyle choice assessments and even self-hypnosis.
The primary goal of the class is for students to better understand their lives and who they really are, says Brown, who served as director of counseling and testing for more than 20 years at the University of Georgia prior to working at ETSU.
Although the Counseling Center offers a number of outreach programs, as well as affordable and regular hours for ETSU students, it only reaches a small portion of the campus community.
“We only reach about 3 percent of the student population,” Brown says.
“We would love to treat more of the population. We can do this through expansion of our class.”
The course would be useful as part of the university’s core curriculum, Brown says. High school students are not sufficiently prepared to deal with the real world or the transition into college life.
“We need to give students the resources to deal with their issues,” Brown said. “Everyone should take this class.”
Although Brown believes this class would be beneficial to all students, some students may not feel it should be a part of a curriculum. “If I had the time to take the class I probably would,” said Melissa Metcalf, an ETSU sophomore. “Although it would be a help to students and is positive, I don’t think it should be part of the curriculum. Not all schools would require this.”
Kandice Love, a junior, said she would not take the class because she already knew what she was doing with her life. “I wouldn’t take the class, but it would be good for incoming freshmen,” she said. “I don’t think it would help older students.”
Michael Rice, a second-degree nursing student, agrees that the class would be helpful for incoming students. “Coming from high school, or even community colleges, is a big transition and many students are clueless,” Rice said. “I know when I was in college, everyone tended to be a follower.”
A report released by ACT Inc. in 2004 titled “The Role of Academic and Non-Academic Factors in Improving College Retention” recommended “that educational administrators and policymakers take an integrative approach that address both the academic and non-academic factors” in college life, according to the report located at www.act.org.
Brown advocates such a policy, saying that a class that steps back and looks at students’ lives from an analytical and therapeutic viewpoint would greatly benefit all students at ETSU.
“The real value,” Brown said, “is that students understand themselves better.

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