During freshers week, amongst other things, we had an introduction session with [a student advisor], who explained her roles, and the various problems that we might want to take to her. I am a mature student who has a form of bipolar disorder, but I have always refused to play victim to it, and so although [the student advisor] seemed very nice, I didn’t at first think that I would be needing to see her.
However, I was to be proven wrong even before the end of this session. Towards the end, she mentioned that dyslexia was something she could help with. I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that I may be dyslexic, after all, I can program a computer but I can’t write joined-up, and so I stuck up my hand.
Now, it was only a little thing, but it really stuck in my mind. When I put my hand up, [the student advisor] addressed me by name. Clearly, this person who I didn’t remember meeting before, had gone to the trouble of memorising all of our names before coming to the session. That spoke louder than words that this was someone I could trust.
And so, shortly after the start of term, a test was arranged, and I did indeed turn out to be dyslexic, which not only meant that I had access to additional support, but was invaluable to me not only in explaining why my school years had been such a disaster, but also, having a valid reason why this was not my fault gave me a huge boost in the confidence I needed to be successful in my degree.
My first term was a real surprise to me. I was doing extremely well in pretty much all of my subjects, but what I failed to realise at the time, was that I was in a high state of agitation. Unfortunately, about halfway through my second term, one of my subjects started to cause me serious stress, and, well, being bipolar, after a high comes a crash.
This has happened a number of times in my life, and normally what happens is that I lose my objectivity, and have been known to become somewhat paranoid. This hasn’t been so much of a problem in the past, because my way of dealing with has been just to take myself away from the world until the storm passes, but I was right in the middle of a degree. That wasn’t going to work this time, and I had never developed any alternative strategies.
Another person who has posted on here mentioned that when things started to slide for them, that they became scared to go into the buildings, and I have to say that I know exactly how that feels. When my objectivity takes a holiday, my whole experience can become clouded by paranoia, and the University campus, which yesterday seemed so welcoming, and that I was so proud to be a part of, has today become nothing short of enemy territory. Frankly, at the point at which this happened for me, if [the student
advisor] had not previously taken the time to get my trust, then I don’t think I would have felt like there was anyone I could talk to, and I almost certainly would have just dropped out.
As it was, I went to see her. I was feeling kind of stupid that I had let such a small thing get blown out of proportion so much, but she very quickly dispelled this feeling in me, and we were talking openly and honestly about the problem, and by end of the conversation I was back on my feet and ready to just go and get on with it again.
Something similar happened again last term. I tried to speak to one of my teachers about something that had been bothering me. Unfortunately, we got our wires crossed and misunderstood each other, and I went away from this so angry that I got myself into a complete state. Once again, my objectivity went walkabout, and if it had not been for [the student advisor], the solution to the problem, which was remarkably simple, would not even have occurred to me. If I had not had her to talk to, I would almost certainly be down the DSS office, filling in the forms again, right about now.
The bottom line is that university life, while it can be fun, can also be extremely stressful. Even if you’re not naturally insane. I am and have been extremely impressed by the support available at Sussex, but it seems
to me that the management have missed the point entirely in deciding to make their cuts here. We all know that times are hard. We all know that cuts need to be made somewhere, but it seems to me that cutting the student advisors, and absorbing the service into a central office is short-sighted in the extreme, and that it’s the sort of decision that has been made by someone with no idea what paranoia feels like.
The personal relationship (and I hope I can say friendship) that has been built up between [the student advisor] and myself is the very thing that has enabled me to go to her, knowing I can trust her at those times when I discover that the campus has once again morphed into ‘behind enemy lines’. Moreover, the fact that [the student advisor] is attached to my school means that she is also able to give me a valuable insight into how the department actually works, and the sort of thing that’s expected from me as a student. It also means that she actually knows what I’m talking about when I talk about one of my courses.
I simply don’t think I’d want to use a centralised service. I’m pretty open about my shortcomings, but even so, I’d find a centralised service too impersonal. Those times when my world is coloured by paranoia are my problem, and well, I’d feel like I was taking a nasty case of the sniffles to the A&E department of a large and busy hospital.
In short, without this service, I’m sad to say that I think the University management will see a sharp rise in people just dropping out of their degrees.
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