Methodist College Newspaper
Fayetteville,
WWW.smalltalkmc.com
Established 1961
Volume 44, Issue
Counselors lend a listening ear
HANNAH HAMER
Staff Writer
Picture in your mind a blank
sheet of paper. Take a permanent
marker, and draw a negative sign on
tiie paper. Make the negative sign
into a positive sign on the sheet.
Now try to turn the positive back
into a negative. You can’t, you used
a permanent marker.
This theory thought up by
peer counselor Rich Lindor is a
perfect example of what Method
ist College peer counselors are all
about.
Spring training for this semes
ter’s peer counseling team was held
January 21 and 22"“* at the home of
Darlene Hopkins, the director of the
Center for Personal Development.
Fifteen students met for the weekend
sessions, which were lead by senior
counselors along with guidance from
professional staff member Hopkins
and Linda Schultz. Their goal was
to train themselves on helping oth
ers and using teamwork in order to
□
Pfioto by Hannah Hamer
Above: Darlene Hopkins, the director of the Center for Personal Development
talks with a student.
reach out to students campus wide.
According to counselor Justin
Leonard, “the objective of peer
counselors is to provide a friendly
atmosphere in which students can
come to seek guidance on everyday
problems.” The staffs of counselors
are all Methodist students, and they
are very diverse in nationality, race,
and age.
What do counselors do? They
use active listening techniques to
help their peers find their own so
lutions to problems that might be
bothering them. Peer counselors
never give advice; instead they
provide suggestions to help a prob-
lem-seeker find their own solution.
Meetings with a counselor are
promised to be non-judgmental and
always confidential.
This semester, the Center for
Personal Development hopes to
post flyers with each counselors
name and contact information, since
many people on campus do not
know where to find help if they may
need it. They are also holding an
information booth on “The Building
Block of Relationships” in February
and information on body image in
March. They will also hold a “Stress
Clinic” in the Student Center during
exam week where students can relax
during the chaos of finals week.
How can you become a peer
counselor? Fill out an application at
the Center of Personal Development
located in Pearce Hall. Training is
held once a semester, openings and
work-study positions will be avail
able again next fall.
Where can you find a peer
counselor? Anywhere. Most of the
peer counselors live on campus, and
are available to talk at any time.
To find out how to contact a
peer counselor, or for more informa
tion, contact Darlene Hopkins at the
Center for Personal Development at
630-7150, or Justin Leonard at 482-
5624.
Department rumble causes senior casualities
KRISHANA POL+TE
Staff Writer
To graduate or not to gradu
ate; this is the question. Con
flicts between catalogue require
ments and advisors’ checksheets
may stop some seniors from
graduating from the Reeves
School of Business as planned.
Seniors have become victims
of a conflict between check
sheets and catalogue require
ments. This problem has be
come a major concern to all
students who look to their ad
visors for guidance. “I never
thought in a million years students
would give better advice than
advisors,” Jamika Robinson said.
Methodist College estab
lished a checksheet as a check
and balance between advisors
and advisees. This system al
lows both parties to monitor a
student’s pursuit of a specific
major. At the bottom of each
checksheet is preprinted “Consult
Academic Catalogue and Advisor
for specific options.” So for the
system to work, a joint effort is re
quired from students and advisors.
This situation is extreme
ly sensitive for all involved,
especially graduating seniors.
Several seniors were ill ad
vised; as a result, they will not
graduate with their degrees of
choice. Seniors are altering their
goals to graduate in four years.
The college administration
cont. on page 2 See RUMBLE