In times of need, students can always use the Counseling Center

Staff Editorial

In the wake of the devastating loss of our colleague and friend Samantha Middendorf, our staff would first and foremost like to take a moment to thank the Eastern community for their unconditional and absolute support.

Since breaking that terrible news Sunday afternoon, we’ve seen a tremendous outpouring of love from students, alumni and faculty.

It’s that kind of support that reminds us that, even in dark and trying times, we must never let go of our own humanity and optimism, teary-eyed as one might be.

It’s that kind of support that makes us proud to call this campus home.

We’d also like to take a moment to remind students that there are resources at their disposal to help deal with tragedy and problems of any size or significance.

Sunday, our staff met with Eastern’s Counseling Center to discuss what we were feeling. It’s something that, still shell-shocked at the time by the news, many of us didn’t even think we’d need in the first place.

However, in times of tragedy and sadness, even the simplest of gestures can have the most profound of effects.

Simply knowing there exists on this campus an outlet through which we can seek a remedy for problems as abstract as “grief” or “anxiety” says a lot about this school’s dedication to its students.

With that in mind, we’d like not only to thank Eastern for providing such resources, but motivate students to visit the Counseling Center if they need it.

The ability to use others as a resource for helping yourself—to see that, despite the deepest belief to the contrary—you are not alone, is an incredibly powerful tool, one that cannot truly be articulated.

The Counseling Center provides therapy for anything from eating disorders to ADHD; from relationship problems to coping with stress.

Eastern students should not take lightly the ability to talk in confidence with others who might be dealing with the same problems.

No problem is so enormous that it can’t be remedied, but the first step towards that therapy usually means vocalizing it. Despite what one might feel sometimes, it is neither weak nor shameful to need help, and students should be willing to seek out help. Because what they find might be life-changing.