Second in a series of OSUM staff interviews

Jessica Shultz Sidelinger
OSUM Counselor
*This interview was done in March 2012
Jessica recently left OSUM for another position

Jessica Sidelinger is our Personal Counselor at The Ohio State University at Marion.  Jessica received a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a Major in Psychology and a Minor in Creative Writing from Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio. 

Jessica received her Master’s Degree in Social Work from The Ohio State University in 2003.  I asked Jessica what some of her favorite classes were while she was in graduate school and she replied

Clinical track therapy:  group psycho therapy, individual psycho therapy and social policy. (Psycho therapy if another term for mental health therapy)

Jessica has been at the Marion Campus as a Personal Counselor for the past two and one half years.  Jessica has met with individuals and couples.  I asked Jessica what are the most general topics individuals schedule appointments for and she said the most common are feelings of stress, feelings of being overwhelmed, depression, lack of motivation, and relationship issues.

During finals week for winter quarter Jessica held a stress reduction period for students.  This was held for 15 minutes in the Meditation Room in Morrill Hall.  The 15 minutes were held with relaxing music, instructions for meditation and in a calming environment.

Jessica plans to reach out more to students to bring awareness of the counseling services offered on our campus that students may not be aware of.  She has plans to promote the counseling services available so students feel free to stop in to see her.  She wants to get the word out that students don’t have to be majorly depressed to come in to see her they can just stop to talk.  Students can stop in to see her even if it’s about positive issues and looking for ways to handle them.   Some positive issues can cause stress when a person is deciding how to deal with the positive situation or how to tell news of a positive event that may bring a negative reaction.  Positive events can cause stress, such as starting a new job, health issues, getting engaged, moving, deciding on majors or applying for graduate school, to name a few.  Jessica is here for students to reach out to.

Since we are a university campus there are lots of students and others on our campus who may have questions regarding relationships.

Jessica has made arrangements for a speaker on relationship issues to speak on campus Thursday, April 19^th, 2012 in Morrill Hall Room 290.  The speaker is Annette Franks, M.Ed., LPC and is a Certified Gestalt Psychotherapist and Licensed Professional Counselor.  She has over 30 years counseling experience working with individuals, couples and families.  Annette has been featured as a guest on numerous TV talk shows and is a keynote speaker among corporate America, including Fortune 500 Companies.  Annette will be on our campus to talk about “The Art of Dating and Creating Healthy Relationships”.  Jessica is encouraging everyone on campus to attend and wants to highlight that you don’t necessarily need to have a problem to listen to what Annette has to say.  She wants to have people attend who will simply leave feeling that they may have more insight into their personal relationships and can move forward with them, whether they are new relationships or five, ten, twenty year relationships.  Someone may leave with a better understanding of some things they may not have thought of before.  Jessica encourages everyone to attend this talk on April 19^th. (This event was very successful)

*The Office of Student Life encourages people on campus to make an appointment with the new counselor, when position is filled, if they need to talk, feel depressed, overwhelmed, or have any other problem they need to share in confidence.  People can do individual and couples counseling and IT’S FREE and CONFIDENTIAL.

This is the first of a series OSUM staff inteviews.

Sharon Gattshall
Acadmic Advisor

The Ohio State University - Bachelor of Arts in Psychology

 Kansas State University – Master of Science Degree -  Academic Advising & Administration

Sharon has been the Academic Advisor for Psychology Majors from 2005 through 2011.

“The student learns all areas of psychology with a general degree of psychology” stated Sharon. When asked what the general degree means specifically she stated “ it means that the student learns a mixture of psychology” from all different areas.

Sharon handled other majors such as sociology, criminology and history to name a few.

The majority of her students were psychology majors, approximately 100-150 students a quarter at the Marion Campus.

When asked what a student could pursue a career in with a psychology major and she replied various employment positions in the following areas:

Juvenile Court

Child Services

Job and Family Services

Prison systems

Head Start Programs

Counseling centers, not in a counseling position

There are many positions that requires a Bachelor Degree in Business

Over the last five years a number of the psychology students at the Marion Campus were non-traditional students that were seeking this degree.  She stated that” our campus is an excellent place to complete that degree”.  She recommends this major for a professional employment position and stated that “it is a great entrance way to many jobs”.

If you have an interest in this position you can check out the website for the Marion Campus at

www.osumarion.edu and look for the class schedule link

There are many research and independent study opportunities at the Marion Campus for all majors but especially psychology majors.  There are also opportunities to help a professor with research of data.

Honors students can complete an Honors Degree with Distinction.  The Psychology Department completes an honors research thesis. Students can inquire if interested in this with their advisor or the Psychology Department. 

I asked Sharon if most students start the psychology degree thinking they will eventually become a counselor and she said yes.  She went onto say “that most students start this degree thinking they want to be a counselor but they get into it and learn it is more than just illnesses or diseases or counseling people.  They change attitudes about what they are learning as they learn it” she said.  Students realize there are many more employment options with this degree and they start looking into the various areas they can schedule psychology classes for.

This Spring Quarter there is going to be a psychology course offered on memory and cognition.  There is another course on adolescence which deals with the child, teenage, adult conflicts such as peer pressure, stress, bullying, violence, eating disorders and depression.

This upcoming Fall Semester there will be positive psych classes, as well as a class on the psychology of personality.  Also offered will be a comparative psychology class which will be all about animals with a second class of emotion.

If you are interested in any of these psychology classes or have an interest in a psychology major or minor contact Shellie Shirk, as she has taken over this degree’s requirements in the Academic Advising Suite.  Sharon is still an Academic Advisor here just now handling other degree majors.

(Interviewed in March 2012 by Val)

My Irish Vacation in Pictures

Okay, so this doesn't have a lot to do with non-trad issues, but I promised many of you that I'd share pics from my recent vacation to Ireland--which, for the record, was incredible. Long journey short: my wife and I landed in Dublin, grabbed a rental car and immediately headed off to Belfast. From there, Bushmills and the Giants Causeway, Letterkenny, Galway, then Cork, and finally back to Dublin. Lots of sheep, castle and church ruins, green, rain, and beauty at every turn. Give it a look, won't you?
https://picasaweb.google.com/113358986221883206829/IrelandSeptember2011

Check out the Non-Traditional Student Site [Link]

I've added this link to our permanent list in the rigthhand column, but I thought I'd mention the "Non-Traditional Student Site" in a separate post to let readers know about it. It's a little old-school in its design (think of the old web-ring sites from the late '90s), but it's full of useful state-specific  resources for non-traditional students. Here's the link to the Ohio resources (which includes a link to the OSUM page listing our own club): http://www.nontradstudents.com/ohio.html.

Tips for Maintaining a Healthy Budget

My family and I have to live on an extremely tight budget. With my husband and I both going to school part-time and we now have a pre-schooler on our hands, money needs to stretch in our house more than it would in a few other homes. We have to be constantly thinking about bills, tuition, supplies, books, car maintenance, Pre-school fees, baby sitting, grocery bill and household needs. It is enough to send most people to a padded room, but not this tough tightwad! I am a self proclaimed stingy student. I have found a few ways to wade through all the money issues we have and come out semi-unharmed on the other side.
I even started teaching a few power couponing classes and started a blog to share some of the things that worked with others. (www.the-stingy-student.blogspot.com)

Some tips I love to share with other college students is:

1. Shop around for your books. Our campus bookstore is great! and the staff is always wonderful and helpful when I go in there but, I shop around because I need to. Don't be afraid to use a used book they don't bite! Check a few website to see who will give you the best deal, sometimes you can get free shipping for finding most of your books from the same seller. Renting books works too. How many books are you really going to keep from your GEC courses. Check out e-readers too. One quarter it was cheaper for us to get a nook and get our books then it was to buy all used!

2. You DO NOT have to eat Ramen and Spam to get your grocery bill lower. Couponing and shopping the sales helps out tons. Stores have their sales in cycles and it always helps to stock up when thing are their cheapest.

3. Generics are ok, it is not poor quality. Nine times out of ten it is the same food just packaged differently.

Canuck Approved, Eh!

Looks like we are getting some international attention already! Ashley Scorpio, Executive Assistant to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and for the Atlantic Gateway, recently tweeted and gave a thumbs up to us!!

Great blog post about interning for @GeraldKeddy is.gd/900qr6 #cdnpoli #hoc #parl #ParliamentHill #Canada

23 hours ago via web

Thnx Ashley!

My Study Abroad Experience

When I first heard of the study abroad program, I thought to myself, wow, those young students are so fortunate to be able to have that opportunity in their life. I had forgotten about that until last November when a student told me he was considering going to Canada on a study abroad trip to learn more about the political system of that country. I travel to Canada for my son's hockey quite a bit and I thought to myself, how cool would that be to go to Canada for an internship and learn more about that great country. That was the begining of a once in a lifetime experience for me. This can happen for you as well. There are study abroad opportunities out there for you, they are not just for the traditional students, they are absolutely for the non-traditional students as well!

My Member of Parliament's Office told me that had not had a non-traditional intern before but they welcomed the opportunity when Dr. Baker presented it to them. Mr. Keddy, Member of Parliament for South Shore--St. Margarets, is a sincere politician for his riding, a man who understands the business side of politics along with the gravity of the importance in his position as well as being a great individual. His Executive Assitant, Ashley Scorpio, is one of the most energetic and intelligent young women I have met so far in my life, if not the most intelligent and energetic young woman who is a beautiful person as well. She was literally a walking encyclopedia and History Channel all encompassed in one human being. Being a NT in this internship created a wonderful opportunity for myself and Mr. Keddy's office, as I have the business and professional experience to take charge and complete the project he alloted to me: researching the Atlantic Gateway and other world wide deep water shipping ports. Alicia Swinamer, Assistant to the Parliamentary Secretary for the Office of the Minister of International Trade, thank you for all of your assistance and information from the Minister's side of international gateway trade along with the tour of Ottawa.

Stay tuned as I will recount my Canadian Parliamentary Internship experiences in upcoming posts along with great pictures.

I thank Dr. Randall Ripley, Political Science Department of OSU, Leslie Anderson, Office of International Affairs of OSU, and James T. Baker, Ph.D., WKU, for having faith in this non-traditional student and accepting me to participate in this rewarding program.

More info here: http://oia.osu.edu/study-abroad.html

Val Walton, OSU-M, senior rank