Oregon State University has many resources around campus dedicated to helping students such as the Human Services Resource Center, Counseling and Psychological Services department and Dixon Recreation Center. 

The HSRC is located across from McNary Park, just off the corner of 11th St. and Madison Avenue. It provides many resources for students struggling with food, housing and basic needs. 

According to Emily Faltesek, the HSRC’s food security programs manager, the HSRC provides support with groceries through food boxes where students select items from a list, emergency housing, free laundry facilities with detergent included, opportunities to receive lended textbooks, meetings with a basic needs navigator, study spaces and more. 

“[It’s a] one-stop-shop for student basic need support,” Faltesek said. 

The HSRC also offers students aid signing up for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, as well as alternative opportunities for those who do not qualify. 

CAPS at OSU offers counseling services to all enrolled students and is covered through student fees. Along with counseling, CAPS also offers spa and meditation resources, group therapy and workshops. 

Michele Ribeiro, one of CAPS’s licensed psychologists, a former CAPS licensed psychologist and co-instructor for the course, helped structure one of CAPS’s research-based courses, along with Emmy Woessner, Mindfulness Meditation, which is now offered as a physical activity course for credit. 

“We’re taking a model called mindfulness-based stress reduction which is an eight-week, two-hour-a-week, intensive intervention that utilizes research on mindfulness meditation to change or to help manage different mental health concerns such as depression, anxiety, ADHD,” Ribeiro said.

Ribeiro added that this course has also shown results in decreasing chronic pain. The Mindfulness Meditation course aims to equip students with life skills and finding a foundation during this crucial time of self-discovery in college so they are set up for life.

According to Ribeiro, the course has seen real students find ways to manage or lessen the feelings of stress—even during finals—as well as depression, anxiety and chronic pain. 

“I’ve been meditating, this is my 26th year, and I will tell you it has been a resource that I turn back to every day and it’s helped me lead a more fulfilling and balanced life,” Ribeiro said.

There are five eight-week courses offered per term through PAC, and they fill up fast. For those who do not want to take a full-term course, but are interested in meditation, CAPS has other opportunities such as BEavers here now, which is a fifteen-minute guided meditation on Mondays and Wednesdays at 5 p.m. 

The PAC center can be found in the Dixon Rec Center, which houses a large gym area for students preferring cardio equipment, strength training and weight lifting, all of which are included in student fees. 

Beyond that, Dixon Rec Center also has basketball, volleyball and badminton courts, indoor turf, an eight-lane pool, a rock climbing gym, personal training opportunities and study areas. Dixon Rec Center also offers classes in yoga, strength, cycling and Zumba as well as the PAC program center where CAPS has implemented its Mindfulness Meditation course. 

As a campus resource, Dixon’s ability to offer a physical outlet for students may correlate directly into the classroom.

“Staying active has a lot more correlation to school than one might think,” Megan Anderson said, a senior associate for fitness training at the Dixon Rec Center. “Staying active allows you to relieve stress and forces a much-needed study break. Furthermore, it allows you to feel stronger and overall more capable, boosting your self-esteem and promoting a good attitude that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.” 

Dixon offers many resources to students looking to be actively involved in some way, big or small. 

“Physical activity is meant for everyone because it comes in so many different types and forms,” Anderson said. “Find what makes you happy, entices you to keep going and gives you passion.”