By Diego Chavez
Staff Writer

Cuesta is holding an awareness gallery through the end of May, displaying the realities, experiences and troubles that face Cuesta students as to help further promote student prosperity and wellness.

High schools and colleges hold these events with the County of San Luis Obispo Prevention and Outreach program due to the large number of students not using available sources, such as school therapists or personal doctors, while having these problems.

The exhibit will touch base on subjects such as time management, juggling a full load of classes while having a job, maintaining a social life and having relationships.

Students on campus as well as San Luis Obispo County artists will be showcasing their experiences visually and verbally. The exhibit is open to the public.

Awareness Topics: Student debt

The exhibit deals with subjects of student debt as tuition costs are rising at alarming high rates. To add, the cost of housing, meals, supplies, transportation and textbooks creates a debt that is unmanageable for some students.

Commuter students & being far from home

Students may be unaware that many commute quite the distance just to get to Cuesta’s campus.

“There are students that ride the bus all the way from Nipomo everyday just to make it to their classes here at Cuesta,” said Joan Duffy, Cuesta College health services coordinator.

Mainly first year students who attend a school that is more than three hours away, on average, are most affected by homesickness, according to health services. Many campuses have support groups, but not many take advantage of that.

Student depression

The exhibit gets personal and deals with depression. Not getting the proper amount of sleep while having a busy schedule can raise a student’s stress level and contribute to emotional lows, according to the National Sleep Foundation.  Partying is a temporary relief for some students, but in the long run may lead to depression.

The awareness gallery will be held on SLO’s campus in Room 5403 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. during the month of May.

For further questions about the Awareness Gallery contact Joan Duffy who is Cuesta’s Health Services Coordinator at (805)-546-3171 or email her at [email protected]