Tuesday Night Topic forum has poor turnout

By Kyle Myers-Haugh | gargoyle@flagler.edu

The Tuesday Night Topic forum last week covered stress management.

Despite the invaluable information offered during the forum, “marketing problems” were to blame for a poor turnout. The event drew only one student.

Many students strolled past Ponce 1 on their way to the dining hall unaware of the forum, but seemed somewhat curious as to what was taking place inside.

Career and Clinical Counseling Intern Kristin Nelson attributes the turnout to the fact that the flyers were made just the previous day.

“If we made them last week, we might have drawn more people,” Nelson said.

However, the flyers that were created did not contain a time for the event.

According to The Princeton Review, Flagler College ranks No. 6 in the category of “Their Students Never Study,” falling in between the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus.

This statistic coupled with Flagler College’s reputation for surfing, relaxation and uninhibited fun, has led many to pigeonhole Flagler as a slacker’s paradise, devoid of the rampant stress that plagues larger institutions.

However, the lone student’s testimonial at the forum shows that the opposite is true.

Aslyn Baringer, a Flagler college senior, majoring in broadcast journalism, says she knows not only the relaxation of college, but also the frustration.

She says each collegiate year has become progressively more stressful for her, and she labels her junior and senior years as the pinnacle of the frustration.

Finding it hard to say, “no,” she continually pushes herself, all in the pursuit of academic excellence.
Nelson warns against pushing to your limits for “unimportant” tasks.

This temptation to exceed other’s expectations “is a double-edged sword,” she said.

“It’s important to have boundaries and to know when to say, ‘no.'”

Nelson hopes to squash any negative connotations of selfishness commonly associated with taking time for oneself when trying to meet the expectations of a hectic college schedule.
“Taking time for yourself is productive,” Nelson said.