JESSICA: Another resource at MIT that I found to be very helpful is the Student Support Services. So I remember my freshman year going to the office and talking to a dean and crying and telling him, I just want to go home. That’s all I need from you. I don’t need anything else. Just send me home. And that dean happened to be the dean that I worked with over the years. And I found that it’s really nice knowing that you have an extra support network.
And so when things get crazy stressful or when you hear bad news from home or just when things are misaligned and you just feel like everything is falling apart, having someone in S3 that you can reach out to and say, hey, I need some help, I’m feeling overwhelmed right now. Sometimes you just need to talk through something and be available for that. Sometimes you need their help like shifting things around in your classes so that things can balance out.
But one thing that I found most useful is that when I’m in the office with him talking about, OK, I’m feeling very overwhelmed with this and he’s like, OK, we’re going to move ABC around. Another thing that I think was helpful was what’s our game plan moving forward. And so now we’ve decided, OK, just to get things smooth and out we are balancing the load around. But beyond that, what is the game plan for the next couple of weeks, towards the end of the semester so that you don’t fall back into the same loop?
But I know that I’m going with this game plan. But even if I do end up in distress or stressed or just overwhelmed again, I know that S3 is a support network that I can take advantage of here at MIT. Which is one of the really unique things about MIT that I appreciate. Knowing that, yes, we are constantly drinking from the fire hose, but knowing that there are firefighters there to of block it sometimes when it gets too crazy.