Now that many of us are forced into a slower pace, \u201cThis is definitely a time to really start thinking about meaning and purpose, what are our values and why are those our values,\u201d Rollins says.<\/p>\n
Rollins and her colleagues<\/a> are continuing their work remotely during the pandemic, reaching out through Zoom or the phone. On the Cothran Center\u2019s website<\/a> Meghan Slining, associate professor of health sciences and assistant faculty director, is posting Soundcloud exercises on breathing and meditation. Rollins and Whitney Brown, program coordinator for alumni and community initiatives, are posting thoughtful, thought-provoking personal essays.<\/p>\n Rolyn Rollins, director of student programming at the Cothran Center for Vocational Reflection.<\/p><\/div>\n Rollins connected with 30 students during the first week of remote learning. Many of them said they were bored and struggling to adjust to the new, temporary normal. For others, \u201cthe fact that their year has been cut short is starting to sink in. Seniors are starting to think about the traditions they\u2019re going to miss,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Among the students Rollins spoke with was a senior whose plan to attend graduate school overseas in the fall was put on hold. Now, Rollins says, the student is considering deferring for a year and is starting to worry about finding a job. Another student was suddenly without a therapist; the student didn\u2019t want to see one at home, and although Furman has therapists licensed in multiple states, none are licensed in this student\u2019s state.<\/p>\n Rollins mostly listens to students, but she also encourages them to use a lot of self-care, and they discuss what self-care means.<\/p>\n In general, the Cothran Center staff helps people identify their calling and to think of a calling as more than a job or a profession. \u201cIt means how we\u2019re supposed to live our life and what kind of person we want to be,\u201d Rollins says.<\/p>\n Their work largely revolves around three core questions: Who am I most authentically? What do I believe most deeply? What does the world need from me?<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a pathway to being more fulfilled,\u201d Rollins says. \u201cIf we\u2019re able to do what we love, we can better love ourselves, and better love others and the world.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the neat things about our center is that our programming involves not only students but also faculty, staff and alumni,\u201d says John Harris, professor of math and faculty director of the Cothran Center.<\/p>\n \u201cThe opportunities for interaction foster advising and mentoring relationships that nicely complement those that form in the academic setting. As the recent Gallup survey<\/a> about wellbeing and success indicated, and as we have known for a long time, this is something that makes Furman very special,\u201d Harris says.<\/p>\n Katie Brown \u201920, an English major from Evans, Georgia, got involved in the Cothran Center two years ago when she joined an annual trip of sophomores to Corrymeela, a social-justice oriented conference center in Ballycastle, in Northern Ireland, where students learned \u201cpersonal mechanisms for resolving conflict and promoting dialogue,\u201d Brown says.<\/p>\n An exercise the students learned early on their trip was a two-part dialogue. Someone says, \u201cI am here to be seen\u201d and others respond, \u201cI see you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe all go about life with these twin needs to receive and offer a sense of connection,\u201d Brown says. Working with the Cothran Center helped her \u201cnavigate both of those realms: who I am and what I desire, and how I can more fully contribute to my communities.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"portrait](\"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/218\/2022\/08\/rollins-768x768-1-768x768.jpg\")
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