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Many students struggle with adjustment, depression, anxiety, trauma, grief, academic and career concerns, as well as stressors related to their identity, family, friendships, and finances. DACA and undocumented students bring important experiences and perspectives to our community and may also experience struggles including:

• Anxiety
• Financial stressors
• Fear of deportation or detention
• Guilt or shame
• Uncertainty about the future
• Mistrust of others
• Legal obstacles
• Isolation and loneliness
• Depression, anxiety, and relationship stress
• Feeling devalued, rejected, dehumanized, or discouraged

The Counseling Center supports the mental wellness of all students while also being particularly sensitive to the stressors accompanying immigration status.

Tips for Academic and Personal Success and Connecting to Others

ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø Resources

• DACA and Undocumented Students at ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø

• Multidimensional Identities of the 1.5 Undocumented Generation

It is a remarkable achievement to be a first-generation college student. College is exciting and challenging and there can also be some additional stress and pressure being the first in your family to attend college. Some concerns specific to first-generation students include:

• Pressure to achieve academically for both you and your family
• Feeling other students understand more about college life
• Doubt about your ability to succeed
• Being unable to ask your family for advice or help
• Fear of losing your identity in your community or family
• Confusion about social and other rules and expectations
• Worrying about finances
• Feelings of guilt or shame about having the opportunity to attend college
• Embarrassment or resentment about your family’s socioeconomic status or the level of education

The Counseling Center welcomes the opportunity to be able to support first generation college students in their social, academic, familial and emotional adjustment and well-being.

Tips for Academic and Personal Success and Connecting to Others

ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø Resources

• First Generation Peer Mentoring Program (Pleasantville Campus, Erika Schmid, (914) 773-3351, eschmid@pace.edu)

Beginning college is a transition for all students and an especially significant one for international students. The adjustment can be both stimulating and demanding. Common concerns for international students might include:

• Adjustment to a new country, culture and academic system
• Adjustment fatigue
• Missing your country and home, not being able to go home often
• Completing schoolwork in a foreign language
• Changes in concentration, eating, sleeping and other habits
• Having more physical or medical issues, navigating a different medical system
• Immigration and visa concerns
• Difficulty communicating, being understood and expressing yourself
• Encountering prejudice or misperceptions about your culture
• Feeling lonely, sad, irritable and/or anxious
• Differences in social, dating and other values at home and in your new environment
• Finding that the personal problems you faced at home may also be present here

The Counseling Center understands that different countries have varying outlooks on mental health and getting professional support. We are committed to providing culturally-affirmative therapy by respecting and seeking to understand every student’s cultural background and values.

Tips for Academic and Personal Success and Connecting to Others

ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø Resources

• International Students and Scholars
• English Language Institute

College is a time where students explore and further define aspects of their identity. Students who identify as LGBTQA or who are actively exploring aspects of their sexual and/or gender identities may also experience the following struggles in college:

• Adjustment to the LGBTQA campus climate
• Anxiety and fears related to LGBTQA identity
• Feeling singled out
• Feeling invisible
• Trouble finding a community on campus
• Struggle to balance family and personal expectations and goals
• Straddling two worlds and/or feeling on the outside looking in
• Discrimination, harassment, cyberbullying or marginalization
• Microaggressions
• Balancing and integrating multiple identities

Caring and supportive connections to others help ease distress and loneliness. The Counseling Center is one of many places on campus where you can explore aspects of your identity and support your mental well-being.

Tips for Academic and Personal Success and Connecting to Others

ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø Resources

Offices on Campus:

• LGBTQA Center

Students Organizations:

• Queer Society NYC

• Trans Lifeline
• Trans Student Educational Resources

• Listen
• Learn about the range of identities on the LGBTQ spectrum
• Use appropriate pronouns
• Educate yourself
• Be socially active
• Allow yourself to have difficult and possibly uncomfortable conversations about sexual and gender identity
• Acknowledge when you have offended or hurt someone or made a mistake
• Speak up when LGBTQ people are targeted with unjust treatment, comments or jokes
• Become aware of your own prejudices
• Attend an event sponsored by an LGBTQA student organization

Resources for Allies

Adjusting to college or graduate school can be difficult. Students of non-traditional college age may grapple with additional stressors which might include:

• Adjustment to University life or academics
• Social isolation, struggling to connect to other students
• Balancing family, work and academic demands
• Financial difficulties
• Grappling with changes in your own identity

The Counseling Center is a resource to help you navigate this next step in your personal and professional life. We welcome your reaching out for support and guidance in this transition.

Tips for Academic and Personal Success and Connecting to Others

College exposes use to many different types of people. One of the lenses through which we learn about ourselves and others is through one’s religious identity. Some issues that may come up for students from religiously diverse backgrounds are:

• Being away from your familiar or established religious community
• Trouble finding a community on campus
• Re-examination of your faith and/or confusion about your beliefs
• Feeling different or misunderstood because of your religious affiliation
• Anxiety and fears related to your religious identity
• Feeling singled out
• Feeling invisible or isolated
• Struggling to balance religious, family and personal expectations and goals
• Straddling two worlds and/or feeling on the outside looking in
• Discrimination, harassment, cyberbullying or marginalization
• Microaggressions
• Balancing and integrating multiple identities

The Counseling Center is committed to providing religiously and culturally affirmative therapy by respecting and seeking to understand every student’s religious, cultural and other personal history and values.

Tips for Academic and Personal Success and Connecting to Others

ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø Resources

• Catholic Student Association Westchester
• CRU (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ) Westchester
• Christian Fellowship at ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø (CFP) NYC
• Muslim Student Association (MSA) NYC
• Muslim Student Association (MSA) Westchester

• Listen
• Learn about the range of religious identities
• Allow yourself to have difficult and possibly uncomfortable conversations about religion
• Acknowledge when you have offended or hurt someone or made a mistake
• Speak up when a person or religion is targeted with unjust treatment, comments or jokes
• Become aware of your own prejudices
• Attend an event sponsored by a religious organization other than your own

College students can struggle with adjustment, depression, anxiety, academic and career concerns, and relationship, financial, social, identity and familial stressors. Students of color may also face the following:

• Adjustment to the racial or ethnic climate of campus
• Anxiety and fears related to racial identity
• Feeling singled out
• Feeling invisible
• Trouble finding a community on campus
• Struggle to balance familial, cultural and other expectations
• Feeling like you are straddling two worlds and/or feeling like you are on the outside looking in
• Racism, discrimination, harassment, or marginalization
• Microaggressions
• Balancing and integrating multiple identities

The Counseling Center is committed to providing culturally and racially affirmative therapy by respecting and seeking to understand every student’s cultural and racial history, experiences and values.

Tips for Academic and Personal Success and Connecting to Others

ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø Resources

Offices on Campus:

• People of Color Collective

Students Organizations:

• Caribbean & African Student Association (CASA) NYC
• Global Korea Through Entertainment (GKTE) NYC
• Students of Caribbean Awareness (SOCA) Westchester

• Racial Trauma is Real (PDF)

• - How To Respond to Coronavirus Racism

Counseling Center Statement in Support of Black Lives Matter

The staff at the ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø Counseling Center joins the rest of the ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø community in expressing our grief, sorrow, anger and compassion to all those impacted by the race-based tragedies occurring across our nation. We stand against racism and hate in all forms. We are horrified and outraged by the racist killings of recent months and stand in solidarity with the Black and African American communities.

These tragedies reflect a longstanding and entrenched history of structural and systemic injustice and violence that we condemn. We are dedicated to doing our part to address anti-Blackness, and other forms of systemic oppression, racism, and discrimination. In doing so, our Center is committed to working internally and with our campus partners to address these issues and support our students and ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø community.

After experiencing or witnessing trauma, it is normal to experience a range of emotions, including shock, fear, helplessness, sadness, anger, or guilt. Our Counseling Center provides affirming support and care to all students impacted by racial trauma. Please contact our office if you would like support in coping and healing. We hear you. We see you. We stand with you.

• Black Lives Matter Meditations
• Emotionally Restorative Self Care: People of Color - Black People - African Americans

• Listen
• Learn about different cultural and racial backgrounds
• Educate yourself about the history of systemic racism
• Become socially active (see resources below)
• Have difficult and possibly uncomfortable conversations about race
• Acknowledge when you have offended or hurt someone or made a mistake
• Speak up when groups are targeted with unjust treatment, comments or jokes
• Make friends with someone who is different from you
• Become aware of your own prejudices
• Support organizations and events dedicated to fighting racial oppression and supporting communities of color

Books

• Me and White Supremacy
• How To Be An Antiracist

Other Resources

• Racial Equity Resource Guide
• StayWoke

Beginning an undergraduate or graduate career is an exciting and challenging experience. If you are a student with a disability, some common issues that may arise include the following:

• Navigating the accommodations process
• Arranging support services
• Adjusting to differences in documentation requirements
• Managing medical, physical, and psychological needs in a college setting
• Navigating campus life and campus involvement due to the effects of your emotional, medical or physical condition
• Finding housing and transportation that fits personal needs
• Knowing your rights as an individual requesting accessibility services
• Feeling singled out
• Having an "invisible" disability and feeling like your struggles are not seen or understood by others
• Increased interpersonal challenges
• Difficulty with academic skills such as note taking and studying

Assistance is available to students with disabilities through the Student Accessibility Services to enable equal access to ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø's educational programs and facilities. The Counseling Center is also available to students who would like additional emotional support and the opportunity to process their emotions and experiences related to accessibility and/or their psychological or medical condition.

Tips for Academic and Personal Success and Connecting to Others

ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø Resources

• Law School Academic Success Program

There is a lot to absorb and learn when coming from another school. Some specific concerns that transfer students can experience include:

• Feeling overwhelmed or stressed in a new college environment
• Struggling to connect with other students
• Missing home
• Being unaware of the supports on campus
• Navigating a new academic system
• Finding that the problems you faced at your other school may also be present here

The Counseling Center is an excellent resource for students who are adjusting and transitioning to the college environment. We welcome your reaching out for support and guidance.

Tips for Academic and Personal Success and Connecting to Others

ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø Resources

• Transfer Student Resources

Student veterans have unique experiences, training and strengths that add to the diversity of our ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø community. Some veterans also face challenges when transitioning to college. These might include:

• Readjustment to civilian culture
• Developing an identity as a former service member and current college student
• Difficulty relating to peers with different values or life experiences
• Facing cultural difference between university life and the military
• Dealing with a different bureaucracy
• Navigating financial stress, financial aid, and VA education benefits
• Balancing multiple and possibly new roles, as well as changes in existing relationships
• Feeling isolated and misunderstood
• Attention, concentration and academic difficulties
• Depression, anxiety or suicidal thoughts
• Irritability or anger
• Difficulty with sleep
• Feeling a lack of purpose
• Feelings of grief
• Increased drinking and drug use
• Experiencing hypervigilance or intrusive thoughts from past distressing situations
• Experiencing boredom, frustration, distraction, low motivation, and/or numbness
• Managing health conditions like gastrointestinal issues or chronic pain

The Counseling Center and Student Accessibility Services are available to help support and ease the transition to college and ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø.

Tips for Academic and Personal Success and Connecting to Others

ÌÒñ«ÉçÇø Resources

• Veterans Services