Episode Transcript
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Unknown (00:01):
Hello. Welcome to the
RCBC SGA Sit Down Series
podcast. My name is Madelynn,and I'm the president of SGA,
and today I have with me my cohost, Ariani, who is also an
officer on SGA, and we have ourspecial guest here, Reagan
Copeland, who is the StudentSupport counselor at rcbc. How
(00:21):
are you guys doing today? I'mgood. How
about you excited to be here?
Yeah. So this podcast to have agoal, to get to know more the
resources we all students havehere at rcbc. But before we
start this conversation, Reagan,I would like to know more about
your personals. So my questionto you is, what is your favorite
(00:43):
hobby?
What is my favorite hobby? Well,you know, if you saw me walking
across campus in my wildlycolored clothing and my weird
glasses, you could probably pegme as somebody who likes Crafts.
I'm a big crafter, knitting,painting, anything where I get
to make a mess and destroy stuffmakes my soul feel good. So I'm
a big crafter. That's what I'm
(01:04):
about. I feel you. I'm the same.That is my mental health. Yes,
yes.
Do you like crafting? Maddie?
A little here and there.
We can teach you. Yes.
Please teach me. And
I also hear you have a newpuppy, that's right.
Yes, you heard about Julie?
Yeah. Julie 2024
has been really good. So rightaround Valentine's Day, my
(01:27):
husband and I adopted Julie, whois a nine month old pit bull
mix, and she came down from WestVirginia, so we just have been
through the rescue process ofgetting her healthy and taking
good care of her. And I havenever had a puppy before, and it
is wild. There's so much to do
and to teach and to clean,
that is true. So, yeah, so mylife at rcbc is pretty full.
(01:51):
We've had a busy semester, andI've had the opportunity to talk
to a lot of cool students, andthen I go home and I'm in puppy
mode, so it's been a busy time.It's
good, yeah, so we have Would YouRather,
okay, would you rather aquestion? Yes.
So would you rather travel tothe past to a specific day, or
(02:12):
would you rather go on thefuture for one day? Is a tough
question.
My mental health, I like to workon being in the present. That's
not an answer to your question.I will answer the question. So
I'd like to let the futureunfold on its own. So I think I
would like to go to the past andbut it would have to be a good
(02:32):
day in the past, right? I don'treally need to see anything
scary. I'm gonna go back andmaybe I would regraduate college
again. Okay, that was a prettyamazing day where I felt really
proud of my accomplishments. Sothat's a vibe I know that you
guys are working towards. Sothat would be something that I
wouldn't mind visiting again.
So since we are talking about goback and graduating, let's go
(02:56):
deep on our conversation. Sowhat made you work here as you
know college,
so I am a licensed clinicalsocial worker. There's a lot of
different ways to become acounselor or a therapist. So
I've been working on mentalhealth for a long time, and I
worked in Philly, right over thebridge, for a long time, in
different community mentalhealth settings. One thing that
(03:17):
I really liked working with wasyou Gen Z people, right? So
emerging adults, we would callin psychology. So somewhere
between teenager and full blownadulting, we're figuring out a
lot of complicated stuff andfiguring out how to deal with
things on our own. So acommunity college is cool,
because it's all types ofpeople, to be honest, last year,
(03:41):
I met students, everyone fromages 16 up to age 77 so it's not
just the young adults that I getto work with here, but it is
everyone. And that's what reallybrought you, know, brought rcbc
to my attention, is because wehave such a wide group of
students we work with. Then Icame to see the campus, and I
realized that it is beautifulhere. The buildings are in great
(04:01):
shape. All the staff lookedreally happy to work here. The
students looked excited to behere. So, you know, when you
want to find a job, you want towork somewhere where you feel
like people are taking care ofthemselves. And I got really
good vibes about rcbc. That'show I ended up here.
Why do you choose the field thatyou're working in, working in
mental
health, helping people supporttheir mental health? Probably
most people who come to thisfield are learning about
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themselves, and I definitelylearned a lot about my own
mental health. I came in withthe interest of working with
young kids, and that's anotherthing that you get to do. You
get to work with different typesof people and people in
different situations. So Iwanted to learn more about
myself. I wanted to becomestronger as a person, and to do
that, I was really lucky to haveall of these people that I met
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along the way. I know thatsounds selfish, right? That's
kind of funny that I got intothis to help myself, but that's
totally what happens when you'reworking in counseling or
therapy. You talk to someone,you learn things about yourself
that you never would haveexpected so
and I guess you started like. Bethinking in a different ways
because of the situations, thebroad situations that you see
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you talk with students andpeople from 16 to seven, seven?
How many experiences andsituations? So I think you might
have other
Yeah, it makes, it's always mademe feel really lucky to meet
people who are different thanme. You know, we only come with
our own experiences, whateverour families taught us, whatever
communities we're from. I'm fromcentral central Pennsylvania,
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and it is a different vibe therethan in Philly or South Jersey.
So I just feel so lucky to havemet the wide range of people
that I've worked with, and tothink about things in new ways.
People teach me stuff all thetime, and I get the best advice
from counseling and therapyclients. I've
learned a lot. What's oureveryday responsibilities?
My day to day is that I havelots of appointments set up to
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meet with students forcounseling. We usually meet for
either 30 minutes or one hour.Students come in for their
appointments. I see five oreight or 10 students a day, and
we work on sitting down andsolving problems and taking care
of people's emotional wellbeing. And then in between all
that, I'm answering the phone,I'm sending emails, I'm talking
to doctors and other providersin the community and making sure
(06:13):
that students are wellconnected. And then once in a
while, we have time for funstuff like presentations and
activities and visiting withclubs on campus. So it's a
really cool mix of basically merunning around all day and
typing a lot. Yeah,
yeah, this semester, I rememberwe, I think you were hosting a
(06:34):
presentation about mental healthand relationship, healthy
relationship, and the studentslike it was very well accepted.
Yeah,
some of the cool presentationsthat we've done this semester
have been about body image. Wehave another one coming up this
week for our summer glow upseries to make sure that, yeah,
(06:55):
so that you don't let shame orbody hate or the diet industry
ruin your summer, right? I lovethat meme that is, like,
true bikini Mayo to go to thebeach. Oh yeah, there's a
nightmare, like,
there's a meme online that sayshow to get the perfect bikini
body shapes. Take a bikini andput it on your body. That's
(07:15):
pretty much about it. So we gotto do that. And we've had some
Eating Disorder Awareness stuff,and the month of April is sexual
assault recovery AwarenessMonth. So we had a lot of cool
activities on campus givingpeople more information about
that. So yeah, we kind of, wekind of bring it all. Yeah,
you're busy, busy on, yeah,
for sure, how
long have you been working atrcbc?
(07:35):
I started in March of 2023, soit's been a little bit over a
year, and I have been herethrough all the different types
of semesters we have. Rightthere's winter session, there's
fall, there's spring, and thenwe have all of our different
types of summer classes. So Ihave weathered the seasons and
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learned a lot, and I'm so happyto be here. I'm going to keep
working
here. Okay? And what type ofcounseling can you provide here,
like at school, like, what, howthat works is, like, any
subject, or I can bring mypersonal stuff. It's like,
school related, how that works.So,
yeah, so we call the mentalhealth services that we provide
(08:16):
here at rcbc counseling, andthat's my role here, the student
support counselor. But since I'ma licensed clinical social
worker and I have experience inmental health treatment, we can
really handle any concern that astudent might have when they
walk into counseling. It couldbe a concern about a mood
disorder like depression orbipolar disorder. It could be
general stress, relationshipstuff in your life. Of course,
(08:38):
we always talk about academicconcerns, people who might be
struggling with being successfulin class, and some of that can
be related to life stress orlearning how to sharpen your
study skills, but some of it canreally be about people
discovering that they havelearning challenges like ADHD,
and then what are the nextsteps, and how do you deal with
that? So yeah, Ariana, to answeryour question, we deal with a
(08:59):
wide range of issues, and a goodthing to know when you're a
counselor is that you have toknow your limits and know when
you need to ask for help. Soanother thing I do is I partner
with other providers, doctors inthe community, to make sure that
students can get the best of thebest when it comes to getting
help.
How can students begin theprocess of meeting with you?
So maybe it's not the easiestright now. It would be nice if
(09:22):
everybody could, like, whip outan app and push a button, but
you do have to do the fingerworkof emailing me or calling me on
the phone. So my email isrcopeland@rcbc.edu and my phone
number is 856-222-9311,extension, 2915, so give me a
call. It's really easy. You justhave to say your name, have that
(09:44):
student ID number memorized,right? I know that's a long one,
and tell me, hey, I'm interestedin counseling. I've been going
through some stuff, and I'd liketo talk to someone, and then we
set up your first appointmentand go from there.
Okay? But is How about like, ifthe students are nervous. Are
little hesitated, but alsoneeded. What will be your advice
(10:05):
for this type of students thatneed help but is hesitated for
any other reasons? Yeah,
I mean, I think lots of peoplemight be nervous when they're
come to counseling, especiallythe first time, or if you're
meeting a different counselorfor the first time, even if
you're like a therapy Pro. So alot of students might be nervous
when they think about coming tocounseling. If I had a piece of
(10:26):
advice for those students, Iwould say you're welcome here at
counseling doesn't have to be awhole big thing, you know, like
we don't have you're if you'rethinking of Freud and laying out
on the couch, that ain't whatit's like. It's much more casual
and comfortable. Students cancome for one appointment, or
they could come for many, manyfollow up appointments. And I
would just say, keep an openmind for yourself and and for
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other people, right? So keep anopen mind about what counseling
might feel like for you, andkeep an open mind about how a
counselor might act you know itmight not fit with the image you
have in your head. So as long asyou go and you speak openly, and
you know you also have the rightto protect your own boundaries,
only share what you want toshare, you don't have to spill
your guts if you're just tryingto pass discrete math, right,
(11:12):
right?
But I'm kind of myself, youknow? I'm pretty busy, I work,
and I'm also a student, and Iwould like to have an
appointment with you. However, Icannot be here in person exactly
you know to have appointment.Since I'm in Philly, there is a
way to have a counseling onlinethat works. There is any other
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ideas or possibilities forstudents that are not able to
stay on campus for periods oftimes and stuff like that. Yeah.
So there's actually two big waysto get counseling through our
CBC and all of our methods toget counseling are free for
students right now. Now, really,they're covered by your student
fees, your tuition, so it'shonestly something that you've
(11:58):
already invested in. So theservices are here. So a student
who is remote or who is reallybusy, or honestly, most of our
students work in addition tobeing students, I offer virtual
appointments so we can talk overvideo. We could talk on the
phone. Sometimes it's hard tofind a place to talk when you're
a busy student, even to havethat virtual session. So I'll
(12:18):
problem solve with people. I'llsay, hey, pull up at a park,
let's have a session from yourcar, but we can do video and
phone. We also have a servicecalled you will, and students
may have seen posters for that,blue and white posters all over
campus. And you will is aprogram that rcbc partnered
with. So these are not rcbcstaff, but they are trained
professional counselors andpsychologists, and rcbc students
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can log into you will.com usingtheir rcbc email for free on
demand. Counseling, it's allvirtual, so that could be
through messaging, through aconversation on the phone,
through a video, and you get topick the therapist who's a good
fit for you if you want someonewho speaks your language, or
someone who understands yourconcerns about identity, someone
(13:03):
who understands the cultureyou're coming from. That's the
cool thing about you will is,I'm just one lady, but you will
is, honestly, I think there'slike 50 or 70 clinicians that
you can pick from. So weencourage all students, students
who are night students, studentswho are working any hour. You
will has late hours, and theyhave weekend hours. So there's a
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way that we can accommodateeveryone taking good care of
their mental
health. What types of resourcesare available during the
semester?
So I work out of the office ofstudent support, which we are
headquartered upstairs in theStudent Success Center that big,
beautiful building, and ouroffice does a whole lot. There
aren't too many of us, but I cantell you about some of my
(13:45):
coworkers and the services thatwe provide for students. So I do
specifically mental healthcounseling and counseling to
support people's well being. Butone big function of our office
is to help serve students whohave registered disabilities,
who are looking foraccommodations to assist with
their education. So we encouragestudents who have a documented
disability, like a learningdifference, a medical concern, a
(14:08):
developmental disorder, to comeand speak to my supervisor,
Donna, or our other staff, Lauraand Jamie, to talk about what
accommodations might help you bemore successful in class. Also
students who don't have adocumented disability and are
curious about what that would belike to talk to a medical
provider and to find out aboutthat. Come on by, and we'll give
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you all the information we have,because our CBC is pretty
serious about providingopportunities for everyone to be
able to get the education thatyou want. So we take our
accommodations really seriouslyhere, we also have a case
coordinator named Jeanette whocan provide emergency assistance
for students who are infinancial trouble, something
like gift cards for groceries,bus passes and transportation
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money, advice for how to sign upfor public benefits like
Medicaid or food assistance. SoJeanette does a really. Good job
helping students when they're ina tight spot. We also have, have
you two heard of the call lab?Do you know about the call lab
in the back of the library? No,
the back of the library. Yeah.
Tell us more about it.
So the call lab, we're testingmy memory. It stands for career
(15:15):
Adaptive Learning Lab, and it isrun by my coworker, Scott. And
the call lab is this big, coolroom that has all sorts of
technology that I didn't evenknow existed. They have Braille
readers, text to speech andspeech to text, technology,
magnifying devices, pens that dofancy things. And Scott is a
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really talented thinker when itcomes to adaptive learning. He
helps students adapt theirtextbooks and make things easier
to read, and he talks with allthose publishing companies. So
like rcbc, provides a lot ofdifferent options for people who
need assistance. And then, ofcourse, we have our Center for
adults in transition that's runby Pat and crystal, and this is
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an amazing program that's prettynew to rcbc, and we bring on
campus adults with developmentaldisabilities and let them take
actual college classes. And theyalso have a seminar where they
get to hang out and learn aboutlife skills. So our office is
really busy. We try to meetstudents where they're at.
That's kind of our goal. But youknow, if you're asking about
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some of the services, those arejust some of the services we
provide. Yeah,
I just recall one more. There isthe food pantry.
Oh, my gosh. Shame on me. No,no,
no. Shame on you. I'm just, Ijust know about it, because I
use a lot, you know, help mesaving money for other stuff.
Where
is the food pantry? How does astudent get there? Oh,
(16:40):
you are now behind. Actually, ifyou go inside of the building,
you're not gonna found it, butit's behind. I just don't know,
hey call what kind of timeexactly it is, but I'm sure on
the website, if you put dash,rcbc, point, Edu, dash food
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pantry. You can find the time inthere. Yeah,
the perfect commercial. Thankyou. We really encourage all
students to come by the foodpantry. And someone may be
nervous because they've neverbeen to a food pantry, or
because they feel a certain typeof way about going to the food
pantry, but the thing is, wegotta, we gotta give that food
out to people
I think awesome. Tell
us what you guys have at thefood pantry.
(17:24):
It's like a mini grocery store.Now, we do not have a
refrigerator. We're working onit, but it's kind of like, it's
like, honestly, an aisle thatyou walk down, we have food,
canned goods, boxes of food,school supplies, hygiene
products, like soap and women'sproducts, and then just weird
stuff like phone chargers andwhatever mysterious things that
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we get donated. So so
it's awesome. I'm so glad thatour CBC have all this resource
to help out students and alsogive opportunity for students
that you know doesn't have allthe liberty and opportunity to
be around of actually a collegebecause they have some
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disability. So I think that isvery nice from our CBC do this
kind of inclusion. It's veryfun, yeah,
and it's also a good shot forstudents to take those first
steps as part of honestlyadulting, right? So get a job.
Yeah, it's an experience, yeah,
and I feel like, as you'regrowing up, it can be stressful,
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and it's good to have theseresources on campus.
So can I ask you two anotherquestion? Absolutely. So I think
all students need to talk aboutthis and share this information
with with each other. What areyour stress busters? What do you
do to work out, work throughyour stress, resolve your
stress. Feel a little bitbetter, stay focused.
(18:51):
I would say, whenever I'mfeeling stressed, I like to
listen to music, or like get acoloring sheet out or something,
or go work out for like, 30minutes, and then I'm stress.
I'm less stressed, definitely.
So that sounds like, you know,people like to talk about your
(19:13):
five senses, smell, sight,taste, sound, touch, there we
go. I got them. So you like someyou like to work out through
your senses. And here's somestuff. Do some stuff that's
relaxing. Yeah, I like that too.What do you like to do? Ariana,
oh, man,
I need to put energy out. I'mthe type Angry Bird. Well,
we're like, we're breakingplates, we're punching a pillow,
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basically, kind of like that.But no, when I'm stressed out,
I'm so weird. I go cut thegrass, so low mower, all kinds
of stuff. I need to put myenergy down and clean up the
whole yard. And then I see theproject done. My art is done.
And then I feed the birds, andthen I start working out of my
flowers. So yeah, Summer, likebeginning of the spring. Is also
(20:00):
the end of the semester, so youhave to get all your assignments
done, everything on time.Everything needs to be done. It
is the less option you have, oryou get done, or get zero and
the final So, yeah, that is themost stressful time for me, and
this is how I can release, like,hard work.
Yeah, yeah. So that's a comedy.Yeah, I really
(20:22):
go for cleaning too. I
would call that rage cleaning. Ido that. But yeah, also, I've
had a lot of students telling melately, yeah, I lot of students
telling me lately, touch grass.I think about, you know, put
your phone down and go touchgrass. Go outside. This is what
I do. Yes, the sunlight helpsenrich the way that your body
uses vitamins and minerals likeit's wild, it's all well
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related. So go outside, touchgrass. Save time to relax. Make
time to relax. You two gonna beokay?
Oh yeah, I will be here. So
I'll be here too. Let's get thissummer going. Yes, absolutely.
Thank you for having me ontoday. No, thank you. Thank
you for coming on. We
appreciate you here, pleasure.
(21:06):
That's
it, I guess. Thank you so muchfor come those information was
very important and interesting.I learned also today again,
thank you for coming on the SGAsit down series, and it was a
pleasure having you today.Absolutely
thank you see you guys. Have agood day. Bye.