Students who have been stressing about the current financial situation may gain some relief from the Financial Crisis workshop offered by Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and the Office of Financial Aid.
The event will occur in the DeCarli Room of the Memorial Union today from 4:10 to 5:30 p.m.
Dr. Dorje Jennette, a psychologist at CAPS, said that this workshop aims to address ways to cope with both the psychological and monetary stress factors from the economic crunch. He said that the financial crisis can impact students in a variety of ways, and many people can lose hope and stop trying to take action.
“Directly confronting financial stressors and creating a plan helps tremendously,“ Jennette said. “Writing down your particular financial situation as well as specific solutions within your control can go a long way toward targeting stressors.“
Jennette will go over ways to emotionally cope with the financial situation by helping students discover strategies to cope with the difficulties and arguments that may arise over money problems.
“Arguments over money can do far more damage than the money problems themselves can cause,“ he said.
In addition to the psychological stressors that will be addressed, Robert Davis, assistant director at the UC Davis financial aid office will be giving tips on how to pay for college in these economic times.
Davis said he will help students learn how to “focus on what they can control, watch spending habits and lifestyle choices and make sure they have spending for school and the future prioritized properly.“
Education is an investment that is worth the cost, even in economic times like this, Davis said, and this workshop will help students learn how to use resources at the financial aid office to their advantage to pay for college.
Steve Barilleaux, a UC Davis alum and financial advisor at Merril Lynch will also be speaking at the workshop and will be giving students financial strategies.
“My advice will be about how to deal with the new reality that‘s come around because of the crisis we‘re in, how to budget for it, how to get your credit score up so you can get the loans you need, what parts of the economy are gaining jobs“ said Barrileaux.
With every crisis comes some opportunity Barrileaux said, and he will be telling students how to recognize that opportunity and take advantage of it.
The financial workshop is an opportunity for students to take action by learning about what they can do to cope with financial and psychological issues, Jennette said.
“It‘s important not to overlook some of the advantages of taking action,“ he said.
KELLY KRAG- ARNOLD can be reached at features@theaggie.org.
