Student Affairs Newsletter: De-stressing with ACC Counselors, Celebrating our Graduates, & Getting Connected

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ACC is committed to your overall health and well-being.

A message from Clinical Counselor, Patty Sanchez.

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Stress Less this Summer

With everything going on during this time, it can be challenging to cope with the mental, emotional and physical stress in our lives as well juggling other priorities -- like your studies. Remember to give yourself permission to take care of YOU!

1. Recognize the signs of stress in your life.

Stress can show up in many different ways. Being able to identify when stress is present and growing can help you intervene sooner and make it easier to cope with and decrease that stress. Areas to recognize stress include:

Physical: Changes in sleeping patterns, tensed limbs, body aches/pains, easily startled, physical numbness, changes in eating patterns, dry mouth, sweating, chills, tremors/shaking, difficulty breathing, and/or fatigue.
Mental: Difficulty concentrating, racing thoughts, overly focused on a subject/worst case scenario, flashbacks, mentally checking out (disassociating), and/or loss of interest in hobbies.
Emotional: feeling overwhelmed, sadness, anger, irritability/annoyance, feeling threatened, fear, worry, feeling not yourself, mood swings, and/or emotional numbness.

2. Set aside time to take care of your stress.

Even just 20 minutes of attending to your stress can help you feel better, which will make it easier to effectively problem solve. Many things feel urgent, but very few things won’t allow you to take a little time to manage your stress. Some strategies for stress management include:

Take deep breaths for 10-15 minutes.
Take a walk or go for a run.
Write out what is causing you stress on a sheet of paper and assess which ones are a priority. This will help you to decide where to start problem solving when you're ready.
Talk to someone you trust like a friend, family member or college staff.
Take a mental break and do something different for 20-30 minutes like read a book, watch a video or listen to music. Set a time limit so that you don't have to worry about losing track of time.
Drink water and eat a nutritious snack. Sometimes fueling our bodies the right way can help us better manage the physical symptoms of stress.
Take a nap. Sleeping can actually help your brain to process your emotions and feel emotionally ready to problem solve.

3. Acknowledge when you need support.

All of us can use some support when we are managing stress so let the people you trust know if there are ways they can help. Reach out to a friend, family member, coworker or college staff member.

Also, ACC Clinical Counselors are available to help enrolled ACC students with mental health counseling services. We invite you to visit our website at austincc.edu/counseling to learn more about our available services and friendly clinicians.

Virtual Graduation is Tomorrow!

Congratulations, Spring 2020 Graduates!

It's the final countdown – ACC's virtual commencement is happening this Saturday (June 6)! Invite your friends and loved ones to join the celebration with a pre-show starting at 10 a.m. and commencement starting at 11 a.m. Don't forget to tag #ACCGrads in your photos so we can share them on our social wall throughout the virtual commencement!

Virtual Commencement Celebration

Remote Support Resources:

Online Tutoring

Receive free, confidential and convenient tutoring through ACC to reach your academic goals.

Compliance

Students can file discrimination & harassment complaints to ACC's Compliance office.

Financial Aid

Fill out the FAFSA/TASFA to receive financial assistance & apply for CARES Funding.

Get Connected: ACC Virtual Events

Virtual Events Calendar

We don't want you to miss out on opportunities for learning, fun, and support. Check out our virtual events calendar and save-the-date for something that interests you.