WSU Hall of Fame inducts prep coach

WINONA, Minn., Oct. 1, 2001 -- An early women's athletic pioneer at Winona State University, Sharen Keller, took the lessons she learned as a phys-ed major into her prep coaching career. As a Warrior, Keller participated in what was known in the 1960s as Play Days. Those days eventually turned into coaching skills when she started her career in Sheboygan, Wis. Later she started the Coon Rapids, Minn., volleyball program. In 25 years as coach, her teams posted more than 320 victories. In 1968 Coon Rapids won the state Class AA championship in 1978. At Coon Rapids High School, Keller also coached golf, track and softball. Her slowpitch team won conference championships in its first two years of existence and, after becoming a fastpitch program, led to a state championship. Background: Six WSU athletes named to Hall of Fame

KELLER 1963 grad

Played volleyball Played basketball Played softball

Halfway through her freshman year at Winona State University, Kelly Kirby's life started to spiral out of control. She was trying to maintain a relationship from high school that she knew wasn't going to work. When things got tough, she cheated on her boyfriend and gave herself only six days after the breakup of her one-year relationship before starting a new one. She also took on too much schoolwork, thought she could succeed at everything she tried, and befriended the wrong people. "It was like I was trying to prove something because I failed in the relationship," Kirby said. Her second semester Kirby took 20 class credits, four more than average. She overloaded herself to prove she could succeed. "I ran myself into the ground," she said. Many of the mistakes she made are common to college freshmen and have serious consequences. For Kirby, one mistake led to another and that to another. The key to avoiding mistakes can be recognizing them before they happen.

EXPANDED COVERAGE Reporter: Jen Selby One mistake led to another and that to another. The key to avoiding common mistakes can be recog- nizing them before they happen.

The following list was compiled from students, faculty and staff at Winona State. Those consulted formed a list of about 20 mistakes many freshmen make. Other students, faculty and staff then helped whittle the list down to the 10 most common and important. The mistakes, ranked by the most serious consequences, are: Not taking self-responsibility Skipping classes Procrastinating Missing campus opportunities Too much partying Flawed studying Snubbing adviser Clinging to the apron strings Avoiding new friendships Ignoring your body 1. Not taking responsibility for yourself. Many of the other mistakes boil down to this one. Freshman, most of whom are used to having their parents check up on them, have a hard time becoming independent and answering only to themselves. In college and away from mom and dad, freshmen suddenly must plan everything from breakfast to a career path on their own, ask questions about anything they donÕt understand, and ask for help when they need it. Responsibility encompasses nearly all the other frosh problems, said Carolyn Kosidowski, academic adviser and tutor. "If you are responsible, you will not skip classes, get drunk, procrastinate, leave your dorm room unlocked, eat too much junk food, spend too much time on the computer, etc." Students who take responsibility for themselves realize that they are responsible for their own social habits, academic progress and other aspects of their lives, said Nancy Dumke, assistant director of learning services at Winona State. Those who don't take responsibility for themselves blame their late homework assignments on teachers for not being clear enough, blame their drinking on friends for taking them out or blame their procrastination on roommates for distracting them. Diane Palm, director of health services at Winona State, said freshmen have a hard time making wise decisions because they're not used to being solely responsible for themselves. "Even those who have really liberal houses at home still don't have the same kind of freedom they have when they're living in the residence hall or in their own apartment," she said.

Michelle Fuhrman, a dorm floor supervisor, said students who don't take responsibility for themselves tend to think they're invincible. She knows freshmen who have become promiscuous because they think there won't be any consequences, that pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases canÕt happen to them.

2. Skipping classes. After their first semester, 20 of 24 students who were interviews had this advice: Go to every class. Once a student starts skipping classes, Fuhrman said, it is easy to continue skipping. They get the false impression that they can get by without going to class because the consequences aren't always immediate. Students who don't attend class not only miss the notes given but also miss in-class discussion, visual aids, quizzes, participation points and sometimes the respect of professors who take skipping classes as a personal insult.

Skipping class wastes tuition money. Minnesota residents pay $1,425 per semester for 12 to 18 credits at Winona State. Those who take the average 15 credits per semester are wasting about $6 for every hour of class they skip. "Education is the only thing that we are willing to pay for in return for getting nothing," Kosidowski said. "To me thatÕs kind of what students do when they cut class."

3. Procrastinating. It's easy to procrastinate in college because few people check up on students and few profs ask them to hand in assignments daily like in high school. Students can procrastinate for quite awhile without a problem, but then suddenly they have four tests and three papers due within a week. By then writing the papers and studying seems like too much to do in such a short time that they don't know where to start.

To avoid this overwhelming rush of work all at once, students need to schedule their time well as soon as classes start. Kosidowski said students are often resistant to setting up a schedule. Many think they can get everything done by just studying or working on projects when they feel like it, she said.

Part of the problem students have with making schedules is setting priorities. "That freshman year it's so hard to sort out your priorities," Palm said. "When do you study, when do you go to class, when do you party?"

Kosidowski encourages students to be aware of their personalities, habits and preferences and make a schedule that works with those factors. A few things to take into account when making a study plan or schedule are attention span, learning style, times of greatest attentiveness and productivity and what type of environment is most conducive to studying. Kosidowski said the main way to overcome procrastination is to know the reasons behind it. Some of the reasons for procrastination are not knowing how to do something, hating it, fearing it or not knowing where to start.

4. Missing campus opportunities. Many students said they wished they had gotten involved on campus earlier because it not only gives them something to do but also introduces them to people they would never have met otherwise. Campus opportunities include joining campus groups, going to recreational events on campus, and using resources like tutors, health services and counselors.

Lucinia Barrueco, a dorm director, said she often hears students say they drink or go home because there's nothing else to do on weekends. "If you don't put yourself out there to get involved, you canÕt get the most out of the college experience," she said. Fuhrman also said many of the women under her supervision think they have no alternatives to drinking. She thinks getting involved on campus, even just going to club meetings occasionally, would help them see other recreational options.

Kosidowski said getting involved on campus is an important part of college -- and the most memorable part. "If you just come on campus to go to class and then leave I think you miss a lot," she said. "But if you get involved in some group, then you get drawn into the campus community and become more a part of it."

Palm, from health services, said many freshmen wait too long to visit a doctor because they never made their own doctor appointments before or decided when it was time to see a doctor, so theyÕre not sure when itÕs time to see a doctor or where to find one. "Sometimes they've been sick for quite awhile and you know that you couldÕve probably helped them," she said.

A campus resource Kirby thinks people should take advantage of is the counseling center. Kirby said it took a lot to get her into the center because she had never considered herself mentally ill. She finally went to the center after her dorm floor supervisor insisted. Her lesson: You don't have to be a terminal basket case to need counseling.

Palm said Winona StateÕs clinic sees many freshman who have physical symptoms caused by depression, which affects the body as much as the mind. She thinks new students need to understand that the adjustment to college isn't easy for everyone and they should seek help if they need it.

Kirby now says if she were to credit anybody with her personal strength, it would be her counselor, Pat Ferden. Kirby said Ferden made everything seem easier by telling her step-by-step what she needed to do to get herself back on track. "If you're a freshman and you find yourself in any sort of hole, go to the counseling center," she said. "They're good and itÕs free."

5. Too much partying. Eight of the 24 students surveyed after their first semester listed partying and drinking during the week as a mistake. Although some students can do this occasionally without a problem, it can easily become a habit.

Fuhrman said she has seen the students she supervises suffer social and academic consequences from too much partying. She sees students fall behind on schoolwork because they go to a party instead of studying or end up too sick to go to classes the next day. She knows of women who have gone home with men after a party and woken up not knowing who he was or what happened.

She also worries about people who go to parties alone because they have nobody to look out for them. Many people think nothing bad can happen to them in a city of 25,000 people like Winona, but two attempted rapes two summers ago proved that it can.

Kosidowski said she knows freshmen party and drink alcohol, even though they are underage, but she hopes it doesn't become part of their normal routine. She worries about drunken driving and overdosing because immature boozers don't know their limits and sometimes drink to get drunk.

Kirby said one of her biggest problems was her interest in the drug scene, something she'd never experienced growing up in Iowa. Though many people donÕt agree, she doesn't think it is healthy to experiment with drugs and drinking in college, no matter how new and exciting they seem.

6. Flawed studying. Many freshmen have told Dumke and Kosidowski that they are amazed by the amount of studying and reading required in college. They get overwhelmed by the amount of work and don't know what to do. Many college students got As and Bs in high school without studying, so they are baffled when they start failing classes in college.

Kirby said she studied hard her first semester and went to all her classes. She was prepared for college to be difficult and wanted to succeed, but her success lulled her into thinking she didn't need to study the next semester. "First semester you work so hard because you donÕt want to slide into that trap," she said. "So you survive first semester with a great GPA, and then when the next semester comes around you think you can get away with less work. You can't."

Most freshmen feel like they have a lot of free time, because they are used to being in class about 35 hours a week, and now they only have about 15 hours of class. They don't realize that this extra time is for studying and working on projects, not sleeping or shopping. A Winona State study found in April 2001 that the average Winona State student spends 11-1/2 hours studying each week, which is much less than the recommended two hours per class hour.

Many students don't even know how much they study. They have to think about it for several minutes before giving even an approximate answer. Kosidowski tells students who are struggling in school to keep track of how much they study, so they know how much to plan for in the future or so they can add hours if they aren't doing as well as they had hoped.

If students still arenÕt doing well after they start putting in enough hours studying, they should consider their study methods. Most campuses have tutors or departments that specialize in study habits, such as Winona State's Student Support Services. The people in these departments can help students tailor study methods to their needs.

7. Snubbing advisers. Students at Winona State are required to meet with their advisers every semester to get a code that allows them to register over the web for classes, but the purpose of advisers is not to just spend 30 seconds giving out codes. Advisers are intended to be campus mentors to whom students can go to for academic advice. "Students who meet regularly with their academic advisers are more satisfied with their educational experience, perform better academically and are more likely to persist to graduation," said Barbara Oertel, advising and retention director.

In a way, an adviser can be a substitute parent to some students. He or she is someone who not only cares about the students but knows what they need and want and can hold the students accountable for their own actions. This can be an academic adviser, club adviser, tutor, professor, counselor or anyone else on campus with whom a student feels comfortable. The Winona State Health Services recommends establishing relationships with academic advisers and dorm floor supervisors to help resolve stress problems, which can affect a student's health.

Kosidowski said several students visit her regularly because they just need somebody to check in with to discuss their progress in school, how their week went, or other concerns.

One student, who asked to remain anonymous, went through his three-quarters of freshman year by forging his adviser's signature on registration forms before Winona State changed to online registration because he didn't like his adviser. Kosidowski said this was a common occurrence, and many advisers now just give out the necessary codes in a group meeting without giving any advice. Students can request a new adviser if they find theirs to be unfriendly, unhelpful or in the wrong field.

8. Clinging to apron strings. To be successful and happy in college and be part of the campus community, students need to make an effort to make college their home away from home. They can do this by joining clubs and activities and connecting with staff and students in classes, but a large portion of community-forming and meeting people is done on weekends when students can relax and truly get to know each other. Leaving town every weekend is a mistake. Some people go through their whole four years living with their parents or going home every weekend. Kosidowski said that even though these people get their degrees and might be successful, they miss a big part of college. Although it's normal to be lonely at first and want to go back to a familiar setting, at some point the need should become less and the trips less frequent. College will never become a comfortable, familiar setting if students run from it every chance they get.

College gives students a chance to be independent while still being able to ask their parents for help if they need it. It can be a good transition from high school to being independent but only if students make the break from their past and try to be independent. Students who go home every weekend or live at home or with friends from high school hinder themselves in becoming independent. They are trying to move forward with life without letting go of the past.

Kirby, who fell into many freshman mistakes, thinks trying to maintain a high school relationship is a mistake for many people, especially if they know it's not going to work in the long run. She said the breakup of her high school relationship was what started her toward self-destruction. "When that started to fall apart I let everything else slide with it and just fell into a trap," she said.

Another way students thwart their own efforts to make college home is by comparing everything to their high school or hometown. "A lot of it's attitude," Kosidowski said. "Some students are very negative about a lot of things -- nothingÕs quite right -- and other students come in very open and willing to accept new ideas and a new situation and they adapt well."

9. Avoiding new friendships. In addition to finding an adult on campus to visit regularly and participating in campus groups or activities, students need to get to know their peers. "Getting out, meeting new people, will make the student have a better connection to the university and be more interested in their major and studies," said Barrueco, who has been a dorm director at Winona State for several years.

One student recommended getting to know at least one person well in every class throughout college. Talking to people in classes is the best way to learn about courses and professors. Students often swap horror stories to help each other avoid the problems they have had. Meeting classmates not only provides a person who can discuss class material but also helps students get to know a broad range of people and talk to them in different settings. Getting to know many people also can provide the support and care freshmen need to feel comfortable at college.

"We lose a lot of freshmen because they're uncomfortable, homesick or don't feel like anyone cares about them," Kosidowski said. "You can get lost in the shuffle and feel like youÕre just a number."

It's not enough just to meet one person in each class. It's easy to fall into a trap of quantity over quality. A student who knows 100 people on campus can be just as lonely as a student who knows nobody, if those 100 people know only the student's name. Students need to spend time with the new people they meet, whether it's eating lunch together in the cafeteria, studying for a test or going to programs and events together. Only time and shared experiences can build the friendships necessary for a happy college career.

10. Ignoring your body. Palm said a large percentage of the students who visit health services are freshmen. "They don't get enough sleep, theyÕre not eating good, they're kind of burning the candle at both ends, and they end up with lots of respiratory infections and some stomach things," she said.

Palm said the Freshman 15 -- the 15 pounds supposedly gained the first year of college -- is a true phenomenon. She said 60 percent of freshmen gain 10 to 15 pounds. She attributes this to poor eating habits and less physical activity.

Palm said many students eat more than they normally would because theyÕre not used to all-you-can-eat cafeterias. Also, said Palm, frosh might not know anyone in the caf or might be stressed, causing them to eat more. Another problem is the food students eat outside. Because they have to find and buy their own food, many students buy cheap, easy-to-prepare food, which is often fattening, Palm said.

Many students who were active in sports in high school don't continue their involvement in college, so they no longer have a required exercise routine to follow. With all the new experiences and the extra reading and studying, it's often hard for students to set aside time to exercise, even if it was part of their daily routine in high school, Palm said. "Unless people are really involved in athletics and are going to continue to be in athletics in college, they just donÕt make time for it," Palm said.

Sleep schedules also change radically in college. Students no longer have to be at school by 7:30 every morning, so they might stay up later and end up sleeping less than the recommended eight hours a night. Palm said the most common problem she sees is that students can't fall asleep at night and by the time they do itÕs 2 or 3 a.m., so then they have trouble getting up for their early classes.

Not only do freshmen sleep less than they're used to, they don't keep a consistent sleep schedule. They might sleep from 1 to 9 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday but from 2 to 7 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays because they have an earlier class. This variation can throw a personÕs body off balance and cause irritability, headaches and loss of concentration. Migraines can be triggered by lack of sleep, which cause students to become sick to their stomachs and have more trouble sleeping, Palm said.

Stress also takes a toll on the body. Palm said the biggest problem on college campuses is stress, which leads to poor eating habits, increased drug use and poor school performance. The stress can be coping with the pressure to achieve, living with people students don't get along with and learning to manage time to avoid burning out. "There's a lot of stressful situations," Palm said. "People get under stress and they don't know how to handle it and they donÕt have outlets for it." Palm said anyone who doesn't believe in a mind-body connection should visit health services during finals. "As stress increases, the number of people we get increases," she said.

Kelly Kirby's lesson. Though her high school relationship was the catalyst, Kirby acknowledges that her problems were her own fault. She hated most of her classes and began skipping them, which she hadnÕt done her first semester. She also began drinking heavily and hanging out with people who did drugs. Kirby visited the universityÕs counseling center and was diagnosed with depression at the end of March her freshman year. "So then I was drinking, experimenting with drugs and was on antidepressants," said Kirby, who hadn't taken one drink of alcohol her first semester. "And I still had 20 hours and I still believed I could do it all."

It took her grandfather dying that June to set Kirby back on the right path. She had to give the eulogy and sing at the funeral so she sobered up for the week before the funeral. While she was home, her 14-year-old brother expressed interest in experimenting with drugs. Kirby said that was the kicker for her. When she returned to Winona after the funeral, she broke up with the person who had gotten her into the drug crowd, stopped hanging out with the whole group, focused on her schoolwork, and started her life fresh in the fall.