Contributing Author

Good Sleep is Important for Wellbeing

We welcome the Student Wellness Center to our Student Success Blog. This is the first installment in an anticipated series addressing important self-care topics. We are relying on the expertise of the staff at the Student Wellness Center to guide our students to better health and better academic success. Our author this week is Dr. Kelly Kilgore, M.D., a resident physician in the Student Wellness Center.

Sleep is a naturally recurring state characterized by altered consciousness. Good sleep plays an important role in physical health, mental health, and quality of life. It is vital to many of the body’s mechanisms including restoration of the immune, nervous, and musculoskeletal systems and is important in maintaining mood, memory, and cognitive performance. The body resorts to an anabolic state during sleep which allows these restorative processes to take over. The sleep state is also important in hormone regulation including insulin and plays a role in decreasing risk for ailments such as heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. Good sleep promotes improvements in cognitive function, in better overall health outcomes, in immune function, and in weight maintenance.

Sleep is a time for development of new neuronal connections, and these pathways are essential to learning and remembering new information. Good sleep also promotes focus, concentration, decision-making, and emotional stability. These benefits are especially important for students who rely on optimal focus and retention of learned information to be successful. It’s clear that good sleep is needed for us to be at our best. However, sleep is often the first thing that busy (and stressed) people squeeze out of their schedules. Good sleep habits are practices that can help busy people in improving sleep quality.

Here are some tips:

Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day to avoid disruption in sleep-wake rhythm.
Use the bed for sleeping and sexual activity only. Make sure your bedroom is cool, quiet, and dark. White noise machines, fans, eyeshades, blackout curtains, or earplugs can be helpful.
Avoid large meals close to bedtime, but a light snack such as milk, cheese or peanut butter can be helpful. Avoid alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine, especially in the evenings.
Spend some time outside every day. Get moderate physical activity, but avoid exercising right before bedtime.
Avoid naps as this disrupts the drive to sleep at night. But, if you must nap, keep it before 3 pm and brief (ideally 30 minutes or less).
Have a bedtime routine that incorporates relaxation practices. During this time, avoid artificial light provided by electronic devices. If you have difficulty quieting your thoughts, try setting aside some time in the evening specifically for thinking, planning, and problem-solving. Jot down your thoughts so you can set them aside for the next morning.
If you are awake in bed for more than 20 or 30 minutes, get up out of bed and do a quiet activity such as light reading and return to bed when you feel that you could fall asleep with ease.
If you find you are not falling asleep, do not “try” harder to go to sleep. This can backfire and stimulate you to be more awake. Just think of something “soothing” and “relaxing”.

Chronic insomnia affects 10-15% of the population. If you are having trouble sleeping, know that you are not alone! There are numerous reasons for poor sleep including genetics, mental health problems, substance abuse, and sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, restless legs, narcolepsy, and circadian rhythm sleep disorders. Warning signs for sleep disorders include unrefreshing sleep with adequate sleep time, witnessed apneas, snoring, or falling asleep at inappropriate times such as while driving, or during a conversation. If you suspect that you have a sleep disorder or an untreated mood disorder affecting your sleep, please see your doctor for an evaluation.

Outside your Comfort Zone

Contributing Author, Vanessa Lewis, is the Student Services Manager and is known for rescuing Charlie, the famous UAMS Cat. She knows that making connections with your peers is an important way to help reduce academic stress, and offers these suggestions for adding diversity to your circle of peers.

When I was going through my graduate program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, I always looked at the Fall Semester as an opportunity to start with a fresh perspective; a clean slate and a new beginning. I was determined to set small goals outside of the demands of the rigorous course work that I had to withstand. One goal, in particular, was to step outside of my comfort zone and network with students outside of my program. While I was very comfortable hanging out with like-minded peers, I knew that this approach would not advance or diversify my ability to speak to all individuals. Stepping outside my comfort zone felt awkward at first but I met so many amazing people that have been a positive influence in my life.

Find Peers Outside your Comfort Zone

I want to encourage all UAMS students to broaden your approach and not to isolate within your designated college. There will be numerous free social gatherings, programs and initiatives that Campus Life and Student Support Services will coordinate throughout the fall and spring semester. The majority of what we coordinate will offer free food and I know that every college student enthusiastically accepts eating free food! Social gatherings that we offer could lead to lifelong friendships, impact your career placement, and offer you an outlet to de-stress in a safe environment. Several of the events will be in the Student Center so it is important that you like the UAMS Student Center Facebook page. This will give you all the details about the upcoming events we host.

Upcoming Events

There is an early bird social gathering in the Student Center, September 6, from 7:30am-9:00 am which includes free drip coffee and pastries from Boulevard Bread Company. This is followed by a Meet and Greet on Friday, September 8th from 8:00 to 10:00 pm at Cajun’s Wharf.

I challenge all of you to set a small goal to socialize and add diversity to your circle of peers. There is wisdom in my words if you will allow yourself to embrace and adhere to them.

Revision

Today’s blog post was written by Nancy Sessoms and Tim Muren in the SSC Writing Center. The Writing Center staff helps students with projects ranging from personal statements and CVs to dissertations. Learn more about the Writing Center at https://students.uams.edu/success/writing-center/.

You’ve done the research, organized the data, and written the paper. You can check that off your assignments list, right? Wrong. Now it’s time to revise what you thought was a completed paper, but is actually your first draft. It is not unusual for a paper to require three or more revisions before it is ready to turn in.

According to Rew (1999), there are four basic levels of editing: organization and coherence, content, language and style, and proofreading. Each level may require a revision of the paper. Ideally, you make revisions at the first level (organization and coherence), then pass that draft through the second level (content), make revisions, and on to the next level (language and style), ending with the final level (proofreading).

Some tips for each of the four levels of revision:

Organization and coherence are the initial read-through to see that the paper is organized in the correct form and flows logically from one paragraph to the next. Keep your instructor’s assignment and/or grading rubric on hand for this step.
Content is checked next. Ensure the accuracy of your text and graphics. This can be done concurrently with Level 1, organization and coherence. At this level, make sure your numbers add up, fact-check, etc.
Language and style is sentence-level editing — grammar and punctuation. Check for sentence fragments, run-on sentences or comma splices (independent clauses separated by only a comma), parallelism, etc., and correct punctuation.
Proofreading is the last pass, and in it you search for typos, misspellings, etc. By the time you get to this level, you probably know the paper by heart, which can cause you to not really read the sentences because you already know what they say. To read your paper with fresh eyes, print it out and, using a sheet of paper, cover all the text on a page except for the last sentence. Check it and move upward to the next sentence. Continue until you’ve reviewed all the sentences on the page. This will force you to really read each sentence separately to be sure it makes sense, and there are no misspelled words or typos.

If you would like help with revision, you can contact the Writing Center by submitting a form: https://students.uams.edu/success/writing-center/writing-center-appointment-request/; emailing sscwriting@uams.edu; calling 501-686-8536; or coming by the Center on the 3rd floor of the Library, rm. 3/110.

Works Cited

Rew, L.J. (1999). Editing for writers. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Communication Challenges

Contributing Author Cheri Goforth is the Director of Campus Life and Student Support Services at UAMS. Learn more about Student Support Services at https://students.uams.edu/campus-life/student-life/ .

Have you ever asked the question, “Why don’t people just listen better?” or thought, “The directions spell out everything you need to know, so what’s the problem?” These questions may derive from mismatched communication and learning styles.

An essential part of communication is the process of using messages to send and receive information. Awareness and understanding of communication and learning styles allows us to send and receive messages more effectively. When we send information to people in a style they prefer or can easily grasp, they are more likely to receive and understand our intended meaning.

It is particularly important to ensure that students understand our messages. It doesn’t matter what someone says. It matters what the intended receiver hears and learns. Teachers can often gauge the effectiveness of a lecture by posing questions that require students to clarify or summarize material.

Communicating effectively with students allows them to better understand concepts and increase class performance, which can lead to expanded learning opportunities, achievement of goals, and overall professional growth. Communication is required in every profession, and communication skills are necessary at every level of a student’s academic and professional career.

Your Communication Style

Each individual has a preferred learning style. Most of us fall into one of three basic learning categories: visual, auditory, or kinesthetic. Teachers can improve student success by incorporating aspects of all three styles into each lesson. For example, it may be helpful to visual learners to see graphs or diagrams, while auditory learners absorb information best by listening and receiving oral instructions; kinesthetic learners process information most effectively through hands-on or physical activities.

When studying, students can also incorporate techniques to reinforce their preferred learning style. The visual learner can use color to highlight and categorize key subjects or they may find rewriting or outlining class notes helps to enhance retention. Auditory learners may find listening to audio tapes or reciting pertinent information out loud to be helpful. Kinesthetic learners can use roleplaying or experiential learning to reinforce subject matter.

The learning styles mentioned above describe dominant methods of learning. We all use a mixture of styles, but for most of us, one usually stands out above the rest. So, to help ensure that your message is getting through, it is important to incorporate elements of sight, sound, and experience when communicating to a group.