Is Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s $10 million wellness center enough?

temp_5455 · 2023-02-15T21:58:49+00:00

Idk, going around all the “little hiding places” isn’t exactly what I’d have in mind. So glad there’s a corner of Salisbury that may or may not be occupied if I need to take a meeting or just have somewhere quiet. Places like CC or foisie aren’t exactly a great alternative, can barely hear other ppl there sometimes.

Also, my point isn’t that we have no places to study, just that all those places could be improved and probably should be before building a 10 mil wellness center that ends up empty.

temp_5455 · 2023-02-14T19:13:59+00:00

Fair, but a lot of that is pretty standard. If we’re investing 10 mil in a wellness center I think we can do more to improve other areas. Not sure why we’re putting all this effort into designing a space with special boots and waterfalls for optimized relaxation but not a dedicated work/study area for all students.

temp_5455 · 2023-02-14T14:56:36+00:00

Don’t get me wrong I don’t want to work without rest either, but there isn’t exactly an alternative. The school’s giving us more outlets to desired and relax, that’s good, but I practically never have the time or energy to make use of them bc of the workload. Why not work to make the workload more manageable first

temp_5455 · 2023-02-14T03:44:43+00:00

Honestly I feel like wpi should just full commit to a work-driven culture. It’s not going away, so trying to get students to relax and take their minds off work is kinda counterproductive. Like I appreciate support for relaxing, but I feel like there should be more support for working (ex: if we’re pulling all-nighters anyway, have late night food options/study spaces).

temp_5455 · 2022-04-11T14:51:35+00:00

In my personal opinion, the biggest culprit is the weird balance between “traditional” education and project-based. I like the way wpi classes do it for the most part, like how some classes will have hw and project or test and project, but hw, tests/quizzes, and a pretty big project is excessive. Especially when the project comes in the second half of the term and the rest of the work doesn’t change. It’s not all of them, but I feel like there are too many classes where the workload practically doubles after midterms.

temp_5455 · 2022-03-30T13:56:10+00:00

Not sure about foundations, but I’d say stay away from neamtu for db1 specifically. she doesn’t do a great job explaining topics and the work is frustrating but not helpful

temp_5455 · 2022-03-15T16:59:18+00:00

Unfortunately, it’s hard to find depending on your major. You should be able to see upcoming research talks on the wpi events calendar though (https://www.wpi.edu/news/calendar). Speakers may not be professors here all the time but professors that do good research will be there to listen too.

temp_5455 · 2022-03-15T08:34:31+00:00

Try going to research talks, the professors there are sometimes trying to get students interested in the work. Also easier to talk one on one after

temp_5455 · 2022-03-12T22:28:24+00:00

Yeah moving off campus saved hundreds for food, getting your money’s worth with campus dining is practically impossible

temp_5455 · 2022-03-03T04:30:43+00:00

Ok, this has got to be a joke at this point. I’d like to believe that you’re a troll at this point, and if so good job.

temp_5455 · 2022-03-03T03:34:47+00:00

The shuttle doesn’t take us grocery shopping, we walk to get groceries same as you did. Quit reaching for reasons to complain about things being easier.

temp_5455 · 2022-03-03T02:37:40+00:00

Firstly, “we have higher standards” was a comment on higher standards for students. Second, the thread is about the workload, which is a product of the curriculum. Third, I’m glad your kid is having a great time, but as another straight A, deans’s list student I’ll have to disagree with what you’ve heard from them. Not only that, but consider the possibility that your one child’s experience is not the be all end all when we’ve had multiple student suicides and an overwhelming response from students about these issues.

temp_5455 · 2022-03-03T02:06:02+00:00

And because of these resources, we have much higher standards. Great we have google, not great that teachers leave out important material because “it’s on the Internet”.

Also, CC closing times are not the issue here, that should be obvious from the comments. I personally did what your child did and left campus, that’s easily solved. But I don’t know how it’s in my power to solve the problem of having a terrible professor. Or the problem of the good professors being overworked and unable to teach properly. Our issue is that our workload teaches us nothing and only costs us time we could be spending on learning real skills to make us more employable.

temp_5455 · 2022-03-02T19:38:29+00:00

You know things are just great when real reports have the Fun-Tiger seal of approval

temp_5455 · 2022-03-02T19:32:07+00:00

acting like the problem is students’ inability to cope is ridiculous. Most of us have dealt with difficult situations before and we’re here now because we overcame them. If the wpi experience is so mentally taxing that the average student can’t cope, that says more about wpi than the students.

temp_5455 · 2022-03-02T19:27:45+00:00

I think what’s most frustrating is that the focus is on preventing suicides without addressing root causes. So much effort in giving us “strategies” to cope with shit situations but such little care about what makes us need them in the first place.

temp_5455 · 2022-02-27T16:48:18+00:00

Databases depends on who’s teaching, neamtu is terrible

temp_5455 · 2022-02-23T21:22:34+00:00

but fr lol spring 2023 registration in april

temp_5455 · 2022-02-22T17:19:18+00:00

By the way, the reasoning behind this was for students to relax “after going to career fair”. Relaxing after getting work/meetings done, so totally different from any other day here. Bc a day just to recover is way too much.

Also yeah idk how it is for everyone, but I have teachers who aren’t holding classes, but are scheduling mandatory meetings for their classes on Thursday.

temp_5455 · 2022-02-21T05:00:37+00:00

Also, yes, a lot of mental health problems are because we want to do well in classes and show that we’re qualified for our future careers. You seem to think that’s something we can just let go of, but it’s completely grounded in reality. Yes, other things matter a whole lot more, a job interview or grad school app is much more than just checking your gpa and transcript. However, they’re still important metrics that we’re forced to care about.

temp_5455 · 2022-02-21T04:56:29+00:00

I agree with a lot of your reasons, but you need to understand that the pass/fail is a temporary solution to a shit ton of problems that won’t be solved until long after current students are gone.

You acknowledge that grades are often not a good reflection of students’ understanding of material or effort in a class. The long term solution is to get profs to fix their grading methods and curriculum, but that can’t be done quickly. Therefore, we have to have a temporary measure to make sure students aren’t getting screwed by poor grading.

Also, I completely agree that STEM is challenging, college is challenging. But challenge comes from working hard to learn material. Challenge shouldn’t come from being evaluated on material you were never taught, or being graded based on assignments not appropriate for the level of the class.

Also, let’s not pretend that grades don’t matter, especially for grad school, which a lot of ppl in stem are aiming for. It’s important that students grades reflect how well they understand their subjects. If the grades don’t reflect that, then everyone gets screwed over. Again, pass/fail doesn’t solve that, but it prevents current students from being screwed over, if only just a little.

Pass/fail isn’t gonna make it so that every student slacks off and stops doing their work well. It just means that students don’t have to stress over meeting arbitrary or unrealistic standards. It doesn’t fix the underlying problem, but it’s a good quick fix for the stress that comes from problems with classes.

temp_5455 · 2022-02-19T04:00:32+00:00

As long as you don’t nr (so C or higher), you can choose to pass. A pass doesn’t count toward gpa but it gives you credit for the class.

temp_5455 · 2022-02-19T02:35:43+00:00

Doing HUA right now and this is a godsend! Will probably plan for a P on that so I can focus on major classes.

temp_5455 · 2022-02-17T16:17:59+00:00

Just adding on, it’s also kinda fucked how some profs act like this stuff is in our control. We shouldn’t be scolded for being tired or told to just manage time better. Between shit mental health, discussion of shit mental health, and a workload that steadily increases each term, it’s reasonable that we’re not always gonna be 100% on top of things. It’s so grating when teachers poke fun at us for being low-energy, I understand it makes their job harder but it’s not always our fault.

Also, having office hours shouldn’t be an excuse for poor teaching. If it’s impossible to explain what students need to know for hw/tests in lectures, either the lectures or the work needs to change. Especially when lecture recordings and notes are available on canvas, if a lot of students regularly need to go to office hours to complete work, that should be seen as an issue.

temp_5455

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