A workshop will be held to aid students in launching successfully into their college careers.

“Blasting Off,” part of the Lifeskills Workshops series sponsored by the Eastern Counseling Center, will be held at 7:30 p.m. today in the Charleston/Mattoon Room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Bud Edwards, leader of the workshop, said the focus of the workshop is to provide an overview of behaviors that lead to college success.

He said some topics covered will be organization, time management and the importance of having good study skills.

Developing good negotiation skills will also be discussed. “We’ll talk some about dealing with professors,” Edwards said.

The workshop is for anybody, but he said it is particularly for first year students who are trying to get adjusted to college life and who may have struggled in the past.

“I think particularly for new students, it can help ease them into academic life.” The workshop will be interactive, said Edwards, who claims not to be much of a lecturer. “I’ll present some information, and then I’ll do some small group sorts of exercises.”

“For students who have had academic difficulty, there will be some specific skills that they can pick up.”

Edwards has his PhD in counseling psychology from the University of Missouri Columbia and is in his seventh year of full-time counseling center work.