Jasmine Espinsoa/Vaquero Radio.
The Learning Center hosted its puzzle event on the Edinburg and Brownsville campuses
Tuesday to allow UTRGV students to exercise and relax.
Gina Castillo, program assistant for the Academic Coaching for Excellence Program (ACE) at the Learning Center, said this event was to relieve students from feeling overwhelmed with the semester ending soon.
“We’re holding this event so that students can come in, connect with their peers as they connect the puzzle together, just a way to have them de-stress from the semester,” Castillo said. “I know that this month, we’re going to be a little more stressed out, feeling a little burnt out because … [the] end of the semester is coming. We have final projects, we’ve been juggling internships and all of our coursework.”
On Tuesday, students were invited to grab a piece of a puzzle at the University Library lobby in Edinburg and the Music, Science and Learning Center lobby in Brownsville. Castillo said students can work on the puzzle before or after class.
“So, it’s one puzzle that we’re just putting together,” she said. “It’s a thousand pieces, students can come in, work on the puzzle for a little bit if they’re on their way to class, and then after class come back.”
Elias Alvarez, a UTRGV student, said he was on his way to class and decided to stop by with his friends before going to class.
“So right now, I have a class at 3:30, so since I had time I was, like, ‘Might as well do it,’” Alvarez said.
The Learning Center not only wants to bring students together, but Castillo said it also wants students to be familiar with the services they offer.
“The Learning Center has academic coaching, peer coaching, whether it’s one on one, to work with you to learn more study methods, to learn how to organize yourself better, to help with your time management,” she said. “And also we have tutoring sessions, so a lot of students don’t know that the tutoring is also free at the university.”
Alvarez said he felt anxious during his midterm and decided to get help for his calculus class.
“Actually, I went to a tutoring session for my calculus class,” he said. “I think it was like a month ago, so I went upstairs, and I had a meeting with my tutor.”
Castillo explained sometimes students have difficulty getting the help they need, or they might not be aware of the extra help available to them.
“If you need a little bit of extra help, you know, the tutoring lab is always open, so they can go in, check in with a tutor, get the help that they need,” she said. “If they’re feeling, you know, a little overwhelmed about something that they’re going through, you know, they can come in and meet with an academic coach. So, it’s a great place for them to study and also, you know, have other resources at hand as they’re studying.”
For more information about the Learning Center, call (956)665-2585 in Edinburg or (956)882-8208 in Brownsville. The center is available by email at learningcenter@utrgv.edu.
In Edinburg, the organization is located in the Learning Center building room 100 and in Brownsville at the Music, Science, and Learning building.
