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The Learning for Success Center at Purdue Global is promoting “More Good Days, Together” with our Mental Health Awareness Month programming. To encourage student well-being and build our student community, we are hosting live events every Tuesday at 1 pm (ET) throughout the month of May. 

We launched this special month of programming on Tuesday, May 5, with our Mental Health Awareness Kickoff, giving students the opportunity to learn more about ways to get involved and discover ways to have “More Good Days, Together.” We also highlighted a variety of resources available to students designed to help them manage stress, reduce anxiety, build resilience, and develop healthier habits. 

On Tuesday, May 12, we will present a special Mental Health Edition of Plan Like a Pro, our monthly workshop on time management and productivity. In May, we’ll focus on the benefits students can reap from managing their time, making a plan, and organizing their responsibilities with a calendar tool like Google Calendar, including tips from Peer Tutors and Success Coaches to help students reduce overwhelm and stress and promote mental and emotional well-being. 

Dr. Carolyn Stevenson will present Mindful Pathways to Learning: Integrating Learning Styles and Meditation for Academic Success on Tuesday, May 19. In today’s fast-paced academic environment, learners and faculty alike face challenges in optimizing learning outcomes while maintaining mental well-being. This presentation will explore the potential of understanding individual learning styles alongside the practice of meditation to enhance both cognitive performance and emotional resilience. By identifying distinct learning preferences, educators can tailor instructional approaches to better engage students and create a positive work/life balance. A brief meditation exercise will also be included during this session. 

Finally, on Tuesday, May 26, Dr. Holley Linkous will present The Cognitive Scaffold: Leveraging AI to Reduce Academic Anxiety and Manage Mental Load. For many students, the primary source of academic stress isn’t the difficulty of the content, but the overwhelming “mental load” of managing complex projects and administrative friction. This session explores how students can ethically use PG-approved AI, like Gemini, as a cognitive scaffold to break down daunting tasks into manageable steps. Drawing on principles of Self-Directed Learning (SDL) and Human-AI Synergy, Dr. Linkous will demonstrate practical ways to use AI for organizational support, brainstorming, and reducing the “open loops” that lead to burnout. We will also discuss critical guardrails, including the limitations of AI and the importance of maintaining human agency in the learning process to ensure a balanced, wellness-focused approach to academic success.

In addition to our Tuesday events, students can join us every Monday at 11 am (ET) for our 15-minute Meditation Series with the university community. This series is provided through a partnership with Student Life, the Academic Success Centers, and Purdue Global Ambassadors and is open to everyone at Purdue Global. No experience is required. Come for an affirmation, stay for mindful breathing, and come back every week to grow a valuable meditation practice! 

We are also hosting a “More Good Days, Together” Padlet to collect pictures of sights and scenes that bring students joy at Purdue Global. Students are encouraged to consider pictures of things they see outside their window, items that spark joy around their study space, and the people who motivate them to keep working toward their degree. We also encourage students to post selfies in green as we “go green for mental health!” We hope this Padlet will create a positive and uplifting space to celebrate more good days together at Purdue Global!

As always, students can also access a variety of Student Wellness Resources on our website. Curated to promote healthy habits, physical well-being, resilience, healthy eating, and mindfulness, these resources offer students valuable strategies for reducing anxiety, supporting relationships, and raising a healthy family. We also include an invaluable and direct link to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Students should always know there are counselors standing by to support their mental health and emotional well-being. None of us is ever alone. 

We hope you’ll join us throughout the month of May as we celebrate More Good Days, Together!

Until next time, this is Dr. Linscott with another Learning for Success podcast. Happy Learning!