College life is hard - whether you are student, faculty or staff. The literature is replete with scientific studies that document stress, anger, anxiety, depression, loneliness and financial worry. This program is designed to integrate scientifically proven techniques for dealing with these challenges into the curriculum - and then provide a safe place for participants to explore and experiment to find what works for them. This can then become a solid foundation upon which to create an upward virtuous cycle of personal growth (see logo).

It has been said about life’s inevitable and seemingly non-stop challenges: “Life is a roller coaster - get used to it.” We prefer “Life is a roller coaster - prepare hard for it, and then enjoy the ride.”

This web site and accompanying program are designed to serve a variety of users. For students and faculty it is a starting place to become acquainted with basic concepts that contribute to well-being and personal growth. The same can be said for the broader community of family, friends and alumni. We are providing an information hub that launches your exploration and experimentation journey into the evidence-based tools and concepts that can serve as “shock absorbers” to deal with life’s challenges. For students, the learning paradigm is very different than your core curriculum. There is not a linear path to explore the various concepts. After introducing you to the scientific basis for these concepts and tools, and completing some self-awareness exercises to establish your baseline “inventory”, we invite you to try things that “meet you where you are”. The bottom line is we want you to know that these and other resources are available to you both during and after your time on campus. You will also be learning alongside the faculty. We hope you all will be willing to be vulnerable and share success and failures with each other.

The “final exam” for the campus portion of this program is whether you find some tools that develop into useful lifelong habits. But you pick what makes sense for you. For the bulk of the program, exams are a series of “reflections” where you describe what the specific lesson means for you. A well-thought out reflection is a powerful and critical skill to master for meaningful personal growth. So to a large extent, you determine what concepts to study, how much practice you need, and then thoughtfully compose and grade your own progress. A very different style of learning! But this process is what reality will be after graduation. We hope you make the best use of this rich learning environment during your college career.

A final note. This program is about you. Not you as a student, professional, friend, child, employee, or spouse. This is about you prioritizing some time and space to work on you - your well-being and personal growth. These tools are like a weightlifting program. You have to do the work. Repetition, technique and practice are essential. It will be hard at times. But the benefits will last you a lifetime.

This program is a journey not a destination. We will be learning, practicing and failing alongside you. We very much look forward to celebrating our shared success!

We wish you a healthy, happy and enriched life.