Counseling Center Spotlight: Bill Mathias
Lara Eucalano
Issue date: 4/21/08 Section: Features
Bill Mathias has been working part-time with St. Norbert's Counseling Center since the fall semester of 2002. He considers the Counseling Center to be incredibly valuable for students on campus and takes great satisfaction in seeing "the progress in a student's mental health or personal development".
Mathias believes everyone "experiences some sort of a stressor at some point in their life that has the potential to negatively impact his or her ability to function well." The Counseling Center provides students with easily accessible professional assistance in dealing with those stressors, whether they are small or large.
When asked what his favorite thing was about St. Norbert (other than the Counseling Center, of course), Mathias replied that he liked "the fact that SNC, through its various divisions, has a lot to offer the students that one way or another address big life questions like 'Who am I?' and 'Why am I here?'" He believes that these are very important questions for students to delve into, and that SNC provides a place for students to do just that while they prepare themselves for the years to come.
Outside the Counseling Center, Mathias is involved with the Journey-Men on campus, who present "educational activities of special interest" to the young men at St. Norbert. For example, on April 10th, Journey-Men hosted a "Slice of Life" program that was created in order to help young male students learn about life as men through the stories of older men from the faculty, staff, and several alumni. Journey-Men are also the creators and current managers of the Knight Owl, a coffee bar in Pennings Activity Center. Through the Knight Owl, the J-Men are successfully helping students all over St. Norbert by providing a place to study during the week, a spot to hang out on weekends, and an excellent fundraising opportunity. Student groups can staff the Knight Owl for a weekend and keep the profits from their sales.
When Mathias was questioned about the possibility of changing one thing at St. Norbert, he responded that, "Like no other time in their lives, SNC students are forming their unique identity. I think SNC as an institution should consider more about how it wants to intentionally be part of that process and coordinate it efforts toward that end. It is important because I think it is central to our mission and makes SNC different than other institutions of higher education".
Mathias believes everyone "experiences some sort of a stressor at some point in their life that has the potential to negatively impact his or her ability to function well." The Counseling Center provides students with easily accessible professional assistance in dealing with those stressors, whether they are small or large.
When asked what his favorite thing was about St. Norbert (other than the Counseling Center, of course), Mathias replied that he liked "the fact that SNC, through its various divisions, has a lot to offer the students that one way or another address big life questions like 'Who am I?' and 'Why am I here?'" He believes that these are very important questions for students to delve into, and that SNC provides a place for students to do just that while they prepare themselves for the years to come.
Outside the Counseling Center, Mathias is involved with the Journey-Men on campus, who present "educational activities of special interest" to the young men at St. Norbert. For example, on April 10th, Journey-Men hosted a "Slice of Life" program that was created in order to help young male students learn about life as men through the stories of older men from the faculty, staff, and several alumni. Journey-Men are also the creators and current managers of the Knight Owl, a coffee bar in Pennings Activity Center. Through the Knight Owl, the J-Men are successfully helping students all over St. Norbert by providing a place to study during the week, a spot to hang out on weekends, and an excellent fundraising opportunity. Student groups can staff the Knight Owl for a weekend and keep the profits from their sales.
When Mathias was questioned about the possibility of changing one thing at St. Norbert, he responded that, "Like no other time in their lives, SNC students are forming their unique identity. I think SNC as an institution should consider more about how it wants to intentionally be part of that process and coordinate it efforts toward that end. It is important because I think it is central to our mission and makes SNC different than other institutions of higher education".
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