[CO]nversations with the Fab Fierce Four sonya.shoup

Get out some tea, sit down in a comfy chair, and listen in to a conversation with the Fab Fierce Four! This week, we focus on what made us most stressed about coming to college. In this 30 minute podcast, you will hear us discuss roommates, committing to CU, and stress relievers, as well as sharing few personal anecdotes along the way. We found several similarities between Christa and Emma since they both moved to Boulder from Southern California. We are all unified in the difficult decisions involved in selecting our four-year college. We discussed the process of choosing Boulder and the routes each of us took to finally get here. Though many of us were indecisive about staying close to home or trying something new, we all, luckily, found our home at CU Boulder.

In this podcast, we also realized that this common ground exists not only within our group but throughout most of the student population at CU. We explore how refreshing and comforting it is that many other students also feel the same, that we are all in the same boat (despite living in an inland state). In particular, Christa elaborates about her feelings of isolation at the beginning of the school year due to living off-campus in Williams Village East.

Coming into CU Boulder as new students, all of us, along with many other students, felt immense amounts of stress. Being in a new place, living away from family, meeting new people, and having a heavier workload are all contributors to a student’s mental health and ability to adapt to this new environment. Though we all had our own experiences, there were many similarities and ways that we could relate with each other. One of our main focuses was on how we deal with stress. Towards the end, we discussed how even just being able to relax and do nothing while you are tense and anxious is a skill in itself. We also concluded that talking to each other about our stress relievers gave us all more techniques we can try and use ourselves.

It can be hard to share deep feelings with people you don’t know well. Our podcast topic was an excellent opportunity for us to build deeper friendships with each other. We were able to share things about ourselves with the group that we wouldn't have opened up about without this discussion. Conversation, when done well, is a way to be vulnerable and thereby build strong relationships with others. Join us, through this podcast, in just that kind of conversation!