The Student Success Center located at 9th Street Hall is a free, walk-in-friendly resource students can use if they are struggling at Eastern.

Alexes Beres, a graduate assistant for the Student Success Center, said visiting the center is a good outlet for students who are struggling academically, personally or both.

At the center, graduate assistants work with visiting students to set a plan that aims to help them complete their goals at a pace that works for them, she said.

Meetings are weekly or bi-weekly and scheduled via appointment, but walk-ins are also welcome, Beres said.

Sometimes something as seemingly simple as an organized weekly schedule is all students need to set them on the right track to success, she said.

In addition to consultations, the Student Success Center also hosts a number of workshops twice every month that are free for Eastern students to attend, graduate assistant Emmanuel Ayiku said.

The next workshop Ayiku is leading is called “A New Year, a New You with a New Mind,” he said, and it is Tuesday, Jan. 29 from 6 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the Arcola/Tuscola Room at the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

This workshop is geared toward students on academic probation and it focuses on implementing the idea that unless they start changing their minds and perceptions, they cannot meet their goals, he said.

“In order to change your world, you have to change yourself by changing your mind because you can only change things on the outside for so long,” he said. “If your mind is not changed, you’re basically just the same person from 2018.”

Ayiku said he would stress the importance of the choices students make in the present at the workshop because they affect them later on in their futures, for better or for worse.

In addition to the hour-long workshops the center hosts twice a month, there are also 30-minute workshops available once a month at 3 p.m., graduate assistant Kiona Webber said.

These workshops typically focus on more specific topics, such as improving study strategies, time management and financial organization, she said.

When helping her students, Webber said a common denominator of a lot of students’ struggles is stress.

She said in order to combat this negative energy she reassures her students that stress is only temporary; stressful situations exist in nearly every corner during college and learning to react peacefully is key to thriving.

“We’re human; we are here to get an education—a degree—and things happen. We get off course,” she said. “(Failures) will happen—it’s how you react (that makes a difference).”

Failures, Ayiku said, are just another part of life—especially in college life.

While it is easy to feel ashamed for not doing well on a test, it is not something to dwell on because in order to learn, students first have to make mistakes, he said.

Webber said the graduate assistants at the Student Success Center also frequently act as a listening ear to students who need someone to talk to.

In fact, if she had to pick something she enjoyed most about working at the Student Success Center, she said it would be hearing about the struggles students face outside of school in addition to the ones at school, and helping to create a goal plan.

Ayiku said he feels empowered and honored to be a helping hand in a student’s life, and he would encourage anyone who is struggling at home or at school to pay the Student Success Center a visit.

Logan Raschke can be reached at 581-2812 or at lrraschke@eiu.edu.