Spartan Transfer Hub | Prioritize Yourself

This conversation emphasizes the importance of prioritizing wellness for transfer students at MSU. It highlights that making wellness a priority influences actions, resource-seeking behavior, and self-awareness regarding habits and body signals.
Check out: University Health and Wellbeing | Michigan State University and Care Center - MSU Broad College of Business for more information! And attend the event happening Today, November 11th!

Creators and Guests

Host

Siddhi Choubey

Siddhi Choubey is the current Host, Producer, Editor, Composer, and Designer of Spartan Transfer Hub.

What is Spartan Transfer Hub ?

Spartan Transfer Hub is a podcast for transfer students at Michigan State University, and beyond, brought to you by the Transfer Student Success Center (TSSC).

Each episode features conversations with MSU staff, faculty, and fellow students, highlighting key resources, programs, tips and individual stories to help you navigate your transfer journey. From academic support to campus involvement, Spartan Transfer Hub connects you to the tools and people that make a difference.

Find us on Impact89fm.org, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more!
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/msutransfersuccess
Website: https://spartantransferhub.transistor.fm

Siddhi: 00:01

You're listening to the Spartan Transfer Hub brought to you by MSU Transfer Student Success Center

Siddhi: 00:06

and Impact eighty nine FM. Here's what we've got for you today. Welcome to season two of the Spartan Transfer Hub podcast brought to you by Impact eighty nine FM and the MSU Transfer Student Success Center. We are back for another episode all about the transfer student experience here at Michigan State. If you're new, this podcast is where we share stories, answer your questions, and talk all things related to MSU transfer students.

Siddhi: 00:32

I'm your host, Siddi Chaube, and I identify with she, her pronouns. I'm a senior majoring in journalism and communication with minors in broadcast journalism, public relations, and business, and I'm so excited to be back with you for another episode. Today, I'm not alone. I'm joined by some incredible guests who are doing some amazing work supporting student wellness and success here at MSU. Would you all like to introduce yourselves?

Abby: 00:56

My name is Abby Ritchie. I'm the Division Dietitian with Campus Health Services. I've been a dietitian for over twenty years. I've been with the university for about five of those years, working in individual nutrition counseling, but for the past year have been the lead dietitian for our small team of three, in our little part of Campus Health Services.

Jessica: 01:20

My name is Jessica Gray. I'm the coordinator for Student Wellness and Academic success within the Broad College of Business. I've been on campus for about almost two years, but I've been a licensed social worker for a few years. So I've been in practice for almost six years, which is wild. Yeah.

Ashley: 01:39

And I'm Ashley Hewlett Lemke. I am the program coordinator with the Transfer Student Success Center, and I use the she she series of pronouns, and I do all things transfer student related here on campus.

Siddhi: 01:50

Thank you all for sharing. I'm so excited for today's conversation because we are diving into student wellness, nutrition, and the resources that MSU offers to help transfer students, and just all students, because navigating college life can be challenging and having that support is everything. But before we jump into the questions, let's start with a fun icebreaker. What is your favorite meal or snack right now and why? For me, anything pumpkin spice related.

Jessica: 02:17

Mhmm. It is pumpkin spice season, and this is my time to shine. Excellent.

Abby: 02:22

Very good. I'm going go with fall as well, but I'm going say salted caramel and apples. But it has to be salted. I like the salted caramel rather than the briek lick.

Ashley: 02:32

Delish. I've been really jamming on freeze dried fruit right now, like freeze dried strawberries and blueberries, and they cost an arm and a leg. So it's kind of like a little special treat, but they

Siddhi: 02:44

are delicious. Amazing. I love those answers, especially given this weather. So that's really interesting. But Okay, let's dive into the main discussion.

Siddhi: 02:53

Can you each share a little bit about your roles and also how you support students?

Abby: 02:59

Okay, I'll go first. I'm a dietitian with Campus Health Services. So my main role is we do two things with our little team of three individual nutrition counseling with anyone in the MSU community. That could be undergraduate students, transfer students, of course, graduate students, retirees, faculty, staff, spouses, partners of those individuals as well can come in for free individual nutrition counseling sessions. They are unlimited sessions so they can come as much as they want and working within our schedule.

Abby: 03:32

The second piece that we do is outreach programs across campus for different groups. It might be just to let them know about the services that we offer with new, with the nutrition team on campus, or if they have a specific topic that they'd like for us to discuss with them regarding nutrition or eating or just overall general well-being, we can come in and do that as well. Amazing.

Jessica: 03:55

For me, so my role, it's a new role, within the Broad College of Business. Essentially, I'm here to assist with any undergraduate student who is affiliated with Broad. Granted, I do work with graduate students sometimes too. Pretty much anything that's non academic. So like if a student is going through life changes, if something's going on at home, if they need basic needs supplies, whatever it is that's not what class should I take, that's normally where I fall into.

Jessica: 04:27

So I work with a lot of different students, including transfer students, helping them find their community, their place so that they can successfully graduate. Awesome.

Siddhi: 04:36

What are some of the biggest wellness or nutrition challenges you see transfer students facing and how do you help address them?

Abby: 04:41

Yeah, I can go ahead with that one first. Yeah, I think the things that I see, I might rephrase that as like the biggest barriers students face, especially transfer students face for being well or getting food or eating might be related more to getting into a different routine when they come to campus. We were talking before the podcast started about the different types of transfer students that we have, and some of them may be working part time jobs or full time jobs or might have a family or they might be a full time student. So now they're adding on education to all of that. So figuring out a new routine might be the biggest barrier to being well or to getting fed.

Abby: 05:19

And the way we help that in our team is that we might actually just sit down with them and first just talk about structure of when can they eat, look at their schedules, when do they have class, when do they have work, when do they have family obligations, And when can they fit in a meal? Because that is a basic need. Getting fed is a basic need. So we need to figure out when can that fit in our day and plan for it.

Jessica: 05:42

I would say for me, similar as far as like helping them with the new routine, like more on the other side of wellness. So like when you first come to campus, it's overwhelming. And then with the College of Business particularly, it's very competitive. And so a lot of students have this mindset that they feel like they're behind or that they gotta, like, work extra, extra hard in order to get things done, which part of it can be true, but helping them find their community, helping them find resources to help them navigate the challenges, and then also giving them tools for their wellness. Like, okay, this is how you take care of your actual body, your mind, your spirit as you're transitioning to campus life and balancing all the other things you have going on.

Jessica: 06:26

So, yeah, that's me.

Siddhi: 06:28

For students who might feel overwhelmed balancing academics, work, and personal life, what strategies or resources would you recommend?

Jessica: 06:39

I think for me, one of the things that I start by recommending, sounds so simple, is grace. Giving yourself grace to adjust to a whole new world. Giving yourself grace because your body is going through a lot. Like, our bodies carry a lot of stress and like the mental load of physically transitioning into a new space, a new schedule is a lot, but a lot of our students push themselves to the limit. And they're like, why isn't my body performing to the level I need it to?

Jessica: 07:06

So just encouraging them to like slow down and like be patient with yourself, give yourself time to adjust. And I tell them to come to me, we'll identify what communities you feel like would be the best fit. Like, do you belong Are you first gen? Do you need first gen support? Here are some resources for you.

Jessica: 07:23

Like, okay, do you wanna get more involved in, like, women in business? Or do you wanna get involved in the food bank? Whatever it is, helping you find your community because that helps with adjustment. It also helps you get connected to informal resources and culture, which is something that a lot of students don't consider. It's like, you get used to a different culture, and then when you transfer to a new culture, it's like, oh, where is everything now?

Jessica: 07:46

How do I find this? How do I find that? So I just encourage them to keep coming to me as long as possible like, you know, as long as they need so we could get them connected so that when they feel like they find their footing, they can, like, soar.

Abby: 07:58

Mhmm. Yeah. I really love that idea Jessica gave of grace. That's a really good way to to come into a a new setting and be patient with yourself. I like that idea a lot.

Abby: 08:10

Just to kinda reiterate what she said, I think, or repeat what she said is, getting those basic needs first. Yeah. We all want to come into a new situation, kind of thrive and do the best we can academically, for sure, for students, especially our transfer students. But we need to make sure our basic needs are met first. Our health, our eating needs, our sleep.

Abby: 08:29

If we're not doing those, how are we going to be able to do well academically? So getting those things set by going out to the care center at the Broad or coming to the Olin Student Health Center to check-in with a provider if needed or a dietitian to talk about eating, or CAPS for counseling. Those kind of things can help get our basic needs set first so that we can go on to do those things academically that students want to do. I

Ashley: 08:54

think I'll just add that it's important to I think a part of giving yourself grace is also asking for help, even if you're not like, I don't know what help I need, but like, come talk to somebody like, you know, find a trusted adviser. You know, we in the Transfer Student Success Center, we are in the business of connecting students to students to resources. So I think that we don't really expect all of our transfer students to know instantaneously what all the resources are. You know, come talk to us and then we can kind of walk through what would be helpful to help connect you with things that you need. And I think it's also just important to recognize that even though you might not need a resource now, but you might need it in the future, I think a really good example that I like to share with students is if you were here over this past summer in the East Lansing, Greater Lansing area, there are some snowstorms that went snowstorms in the middle of summer, silly, like rainstorms, thunderstorms that went through and knocked out power.

Ashley: 09:57

So there were, you know, there were individuals who maybe have never accessed the food bank before, but needed to because their entire fridge full of groceries went bad because it took us several days for power to be restored. So I think there's just those, you know, life be life and and things come up that you might not realize you need the resource. And that's where I think that anybody in this room and and folks in your extended networks can help connect you to those resources that you might not need it today, but you might need it at some point.

Siddhi: 10:28

And my next question is kind of going off of that a little bit. So these services are obviously all incredible, but sometimes students don't know about them. So how can transfer students get connected with these resources?

Jessica: 10:42

I feel like so for me, in particular, I feel like social media is a very powerful tool. So following different student groups, following your college's social media, following I forgot the overall UHW one. But, like, following different Instagram accounts to see what's going on, especially if it's tied to a specific identity you have or experience, that could be super helpful. And then for Broad, which is open to everybody, we have, like, a web page. So if you go to the main Broad page, scroll all the way down.

Jessica: 11:17

You could click on resources, and it has just different resources available to any student throughout the university. So if you're going if you need support with business clothes, like, it's resources for that. If you need advising, like, you know, it's different resources on there that you can tap into without being like, okay, I need to know every single thing. And then at the bottom, if you need extra support, you could contact me and I'll get you over to Ashley and then you can go from there.

Abby: 11:46

Yeah. I think same for, for nutrition services or campus health services is checking out the University Health and Well-being website, uhw. Msu dot edu, and our Instagram is Healthy Spartans. They have lots of good information about resources that we have available in the whole unit. But also Ashley was even saying again, before we got started of the resource fairs that you all have, coming to those and getting, and talking to the folks at those fairs about all the resources that are available.

Abby: 12:16

Because if you think about it, or if you think about some resource that you need, we probably have it here at MSU. And those resource fairs are probably a great way to connect or talk with someone who knows a little bit more about them.

Ashley: 12:29

And I think Jessica even mentioned, you know, I want to take that a step further and just say like, go to the things. Like, I'm thinking, you know, shameless self promotion for Trans Institute Success Center work, but the tempo weekly gathering spaces that we have 06:30 to 08:30 on Tuesdays and STEM two thousand one hundred thirty. Come talk to us. You know, this is a great opportunity to We usually have snacks. We might have like last week for a national transfer student week.

Ashley: 12:55

We had, our friend Sean Brown from Career Services come and talk about resume building. So kind of a combination of community building and then also bringing the professional staff members to present on various topics. But I think if anything, was like, that's kind of a standing open invitation to all of our transfer students to come. You know, it's like, come hang out with us, have some snacks. I've got some cute little pumpkins we're gonna decorate tonight as our little social activity.

Ashley: 13:20

But I think a lot of the conversations that come up are very organic, and it leads to these things of like, hey, did you know about this resource over here? Just with having, one, students who have been at MSU for a while, and then professional staff who can also I've here for I've been a part of the MSU community for over two decades, I'd like to think I know things. I know a lot of things, but I certainly don't know everything. But I think that, know, kind of Jessica's earlier point about like, I might not have the answer, but I probably know somebody who does. So just this, that network alone is really crucial.

Jessica: 13:58

Yeah. Oh, go ahead, Jessica. I was saying, want to add on to because putting yourself out there is not gonna always be convenient, but it's definitely worth the sacrifice. So there are gonna be times where you really don't feel like it, or you're like, I'm too nervous, or what if nobody likes me, or any, whatever is going through your head. But it's so worth it to go to the things, to put yourself out there because you end up getting answers you didn't know you need.

Jessica: 14:24

You ended up getting connections that you didn't know you need. I know for me, from when I was a student, it's a lot of things that at the time were inconvenient, but were seed sown. That now that I'm back here as an employee, like now I have these connections that at the time weren't convenient, but now it's very convenient because it's been helping me out a lot. So regardless of the inconvenience it could cause, especially if you have a family and it's like, I got all this stuff going on. What about my kids?

Jessica: 14:50

Like, totally get it. And making time, at least like once a semester, to really put yourself out there is going to be super helpful.

Abby: 14:58

Yeah, I think just agreeing with everything everybody is saying, putting yourself out there makes this big MSU community seem smaller when you make those connection points every so often. And yeah, just once a semester or once every few months even can help make that community a little bit smaller for students.

Siddhi: 15:18

Amazing. This next question is something that we got in the feedback of our resource fair, but this is also something that I'm always curious about. So mental and physical wellness are connected. How do you encourage students to prioritize both while also managing a busy college schedule?

Jessica: 15:38

I can start if you can. So for me, one thing I do is practice what I preach. So I try to lead by example, and I try to tell them what I'm doing, especially for the students that I supervise. I'll say Jessica's about to go put herself in time out and take a because Jessica needs some extra support right now. I love that.

Jessica: 15:57

So that it's not just like something that I'm telling them to do, see it's something that I'm practicing. And then also too, for the larger bro community, for the transfer students I work with, I go over, I've been preaching it a lot, but it's called Howser5, and like, it asks questions to go deeper beyond, like, I'm fine. So this was created right after Hurricane Katrina. I did not make this up. I just had our marketing team smartify it.

Jessica: 16:23

But it's also on that web page that I mentioned earlier, but it asks questions about work, love, play, eating, sleeping. And they'll just say like, do you actually enjoy what you're doing? Are you satisfied? Have you been sleeping lately? So doing that check-in, and I've been encouraging students to support themselves more in the areas where it's like, actually, I haven't slept or I need to play more.

Jessica: 16:45

I actually cut that off. Because a lot of students, they focus on work, especially when in college, but you need to enjoy different things in life to You need more balance. You need to play more. That way you could work and not be burnt out and feel like, oh my gosh, I just What's going on? You need to have different outlets.

Jessica: 17:03

You need to eat. You need to sleep. I know all nighters are very popular, but your body needs sleep. You pushing yourself at 2AM and wondering why you're not functioning and why that paper's not getting typed. That's because you need to go to bed.

Jessica: 17:16

Did you actually go to the bathroom? Have you eaten today? Like, I'll And literally talk to the students and I'm like, yo, have you ate today? No, this bag of chips is the only thing I ate. You need to eat.

Jessica: 17:28

Your body needs that to function. Have you slept? You can't Too many people, I'll say it like that, too many people view these things as optional. And so I've been encouraging people to say like, Hey, this is a priority because in order to get the work things done, you have to be balanced in these other areas. It's not gonna be perfect, but you have to put more effort in there in order for you to be successful.

Jessica: 17:51

Otherwise, you're going to burn out. I'll get us a busy schedule and I'm like, okay, let's sit here. I go through our calendar. I'm like, let's go through the calendar. You're gonna have to pick and choose what are the top priorities?

Jessica: 18:03

What do you need to give up so that you can go to sleep? What do you need to get up? How do you need to switch your schedule to prepare, to make sure you got food on deck so that you can go ahead and eat? If you know you're gonna be in broth all day, go to the care center. You could get you a microwavable meal, take a break, take a walk over to Owen, heat it up in the microwave, that way you get some nature, get some steps in, go back, eat, whatever you need to do.

Jessica: 18:27

But I think it starts by viewing it as a priority that like all the other aspects of you need to be taken care of, minor, like outside of just what you produce in your clubs and, with your academics. I'm

Abby: 18:42

gonna speak to the priority piece because I really like that making those basic needs a priority, the sleep, the eating, the mental health stuff. And I have this quote because I did find this quote because it was in a book I was reading. I did not read this person's book, but I will tell you who said this quote. It's Stephen Covey. He's an author and educator, but hero.

Abby: 18:58

The key is to not prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities. Your priorities, if you value sleep, if you value your eating and your movement and your spirituality or whatever it is, you schedule those priorities first and try to work, and yes, work the academics and everything around them as well. But we, got to take time for those priorities so everything else can be done. And if you go back to, if we've all taken sort of a basic psychology course with Maslow's hierarchy of needs in that pyramid, the foundation, the base of that pyramid is basic physiological needs, air, food, water, sleep, shelter, clothing. We have to prioritize those so that we can get to that self actualization, and have that growth to meet, be all the things that we want to be academically or here at a college campus.

Abby: 19:49

So yes, to the basic needs prioritizing those.

Jessica: 19:53

Amazing.

Siddhi: 19:55

This time of the year gets very hectic because we have our like exams going on and then we have these clubs that we had to be a part of and we have like small breaks but then they're nearly not enough and then there's another exam and things like that so I feel really relieved listening to you because I think that it's it kind of puts me at ease. So thank you. Moving on. Are there any upcoming programs, workshops or events that transfer students should know about?

Abby: 20:30

November 11, the Hunger Free and Basic Needs presentation, and it is for, the Transfer Student Success Center,

Ashley: 20:38

And

Abby: 20:38

it's on Zoom at 06:30.

Ashley: 20:41

So we'll do a hybrid experience. So if you are able to come in person, that's amazing. We'll see you over in STEM two thousand one hundred thirty over in the STEM teaching and learning facility. The time frame is 06:30 to 08:30. The first forty five minutes will be our fabulous presenters here in the space with me.

Ashley: 21:02

And we'll also hear from Caris Wayne from the MSU Food Bank and Basic Needs Program. But yeah, I think that's a great opportunity to engage with all of this information again and be able to ask questions and things like that.

Abby: 21:17

Yeah, absolutely. The other thing is that we have ongoing individual nutrition counseling sessions that, you know, anybody can access. And it's just a phone call to set up an appointment with the dietitian. If you just want to check-in on what you're doing to see if it's going Okay or if you're just struggling getting in a routine, there are resources there to help.

Jessica: 21:38

And then for me, shameless plug for the Braille Care Center. So if you need any basic needs supplies, we have cleaning supplies, hair care products, body care products, oral hygiene, food. We got not no grocery foods, like microwaveable, quick food, cereal, granola bars, that type of stuff. But there's a lot of stuff we have if you need it for the most part, we have a toilet paper, two ply. That's okay.

Jessica: 22:05

So, but we have a wide range of items if you need it. You can access it for sure. We don't turn anybody away. So if you need supplies, definitely come utilize our services. We're open from 10AM to five well, not five 04:30PM, Monday through Thursday.

Jessica: 22:22

So

Siddhi: 22:23

So just to clarify, though, the Broad Care Center program, it's not just for Broad students. Right?

Jessica: 22:29

It's for anybody affiliated with Broad. Okay. Down to the sliver. Let me say professional. Yes, you can definitely use these services.

Jessica: 22:38

So if you have a minor in business, if you're a part of residential business community in any way, shape or form, if you're a part of multicultural business programs, if you work in Broad, if you work at Panera in Broad, we're not going to turn anybody away. So if and if you just need something, you could come talk to us and we'll get you set up. So amazing. Yeah.

Abby: 23:00

The last thing I do want to say, because Kara Swain is not here from the Spartan Shell, but I do want to say that that is available to all students, graduate students. It's really actually available to the whole MSU community. And there are no really qualifiers for you to come and receive these services. They do have specific hours that they kind of ask you to try to follow so that they have staffing there and you can go to the website at UHW for that as well. But that's an excellent resource for all of our community when they feel like they need some of those basic needs things, whether it be food or, you know, they even have hygiene products there, some kitchen supplies even now as well.

Abby: 23:35

Cara has done a really good job bringing in some, some external funding. So, there's a lot more available for students. So that's a great resource for any students, including transfer students to take advantage of.

Siddhi: 23:47

Amazing. Okay. So to wrap up, what's one piece of advice you'd give to transfer students looking to take charge of their wellness and make most of their time here at MSU?

Jessica: 23:58

I would say make it a priority. That's like the biggest thing. If there's a priority to you, it'll pop up in your actions, it'll pop up in how you seek resources, it'll pop up to how you pay attention to your body and your habits. So definitely, yeah, making your wellness a priority and not viewing it as something optional or something that's a barrier. Like if you need extra support, ask for help, like Ashton said, ask for help, reach out.

Jessica: 24:27

You have great resources and people who literally wanna help you. We get paid to help you, so come use us. So, you know, get your money's worth. Absolutely.

Abby: 24:39

I think my advice is, I think we've kind of already said this, but there's an abundance of resources here on campus. For everyone to thrive, just ask. Don't be afraid to ask your advisor, the student next to you in class, your roommate, the person working in the dining hall, in the residence hall, the provider you see at Olin or a dietitian. Ask someone. They will help you either directly to the resource or find someone else to connect you to that resource.

Abby: 25:08

The resource is probably here if you're looking for it. 100% agree.

Siddhi: 25:14

And that wraps up episode five of the Spartan Transfer Hub. A huge thank you to Jessica and Abby and Ashley for joining me today and sharing your insights, resources, advice. To all of our transfer Spartans listening, remember taking care of yourself physically, mentally, and academically is the key to your success. You belong here, and you have incredible resources to help you thrive. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to tune in on the Impact eighty nine FM website, Spotify, or Apple Podcast.

Siddhi: 25:46

Until next time, keep showing up, keep growing, and keep making MSU your home. Go green.

Jessica: 25:52

Go white. Go white.

Siddhi: 25:54

Thanks for tuning in to the Spartan Transfer Hub brought to you by Impact eighty nine FM and the Transfer Student Success Center. See you next time.