By Shalonda Rodgers/reporter
Many people do not know their limits until pulled from all angles, South Campus students were told Feb. 6.
In collaboration with Women in New Roles Feb. 6, Flo Stanton, coordinator of health services on South Campus, gave students different objectives for dealing with multiple roles while trying to get an education.
Her goal was to bring about more effective individuals by helping them to balance their various life roles.
Some of the roles, Stanton said, include not only being a student, but a mother, employee and caretaker. She focused on stress management even though roles vary from student to student. Depending on the multiples roles and activities, balancing can be quite challenging, Stanton said.
Going to school and managing multiple roles can sometimes seem difficult. Stanton said women returning to school or attending for the first time should remember that education gives opportunities to go further.
Stanton said women should not drop their educational goals even if they have to take fewer hours.
“Keep going and do not give up,” she said.
Stanton said she had to balance multiple roles when she was trying to obtain her own degree and be a wife and a mother. She said it was not easy when she did the fast-track nursing program at the University of Texas at Arlington. Not only did she have to make a big sacrifice but so did her family.
However, she utilized some of the same objectives she presented to the WINR students.
Role awareness, Stanton said, is one of the main objectives. Identifying roles, establishing order of importance and determining percentage of time given to each role helps someone maintain balance.
“Be upfront and realistic about roles by categorizing your expectations,” she said.
Roles change, so students should prioritize. They need to determine if their expectations are realistic or unrealistic and the amount of time to give to each role.
Dealing with role conflicts is another strong objective. Stanton said students must establish time frames (limits), let go, communicate, delegate, be flexible and allow “pamper me time.” These techniques will help them deal with role conflicts.
“When identifying roles, know your limits so you won’t be exhausted and pulled from all angles,” she said.
A lot of people do not know their limits until they have gotten past their limits.
Stanton said students should be clear and concise when communicating their expectations from others (support network).
“Start with the word I when communicating and don’t start with you,” she said. “You don’t have to take on everything, and there are limits. “Some things can go undone, and choices that are in your best interest are best.”
When dealing with their support network, students should delegate roles. They should not try to control everything, but they should let go of some things.
“You need to be in right relationship with self to be in right relationship with others,” she said.
Stanton had students take a multiple roles assessment, listing present roles in life in rank order from 1-5 and indicating the percentage of time given to each role equaling 100 percent.
One student, Kathryn Boulet, ranked self as one of her most important roles on the assessment because she realized being a student made her busy. However, her concept of balancing her multiple roles was a healthy sense of self, which brought her attention to achieving a better balance.
Student Lakeidra Parker, a mother, full-time business student and model, said life can be challenging. Trying to help a young child understand the multiple roles can be frustrating, she said.
Parker said the session helped her to become a little more open-minded, allow for self-time and manage her roles differently.
“Taking care of you” is very important, Stanton said.
The concept of self-love is not selfish. Instead, Stanton said, self-care is a vital part of balancing multiple roles.
Students should always allow for self-time, especially when dealing with stress. Some of the examples students gave to relieve stress were self-leisure and recreation. Stanton said a nice hot bubble bath is a good way to relax without time constraints and added expenses.
“Far from being selfish, people who have self-love are able to make their own lives, and the lives of others, healthy and satisfying,” she said.
