A Workshop on stress management has been organised for beneficiaries of the African Sisters Educative Collaboration (ASEC) studying at the Catholic University of Ghana (CUG) at Fiapre in the Sunyani Diocese.
The Tuesday, May 28, 2024 Workshop was a reflective learning for Religious Sister beneficiaries of higher education in Ghana who have been sponsored by Conrad Hilton Foundation.
Mr. Vincent Amankona, a lecturer at Catholic University, in the Department of Computing, Engineering, and Mathematical Sciences (CEMS), who facilitated the session for the Sisters, said students must do away with unnecessary things that make them busy.
As students, the road to success is not easy though even as Religious Sisters, you anticipate a great future, he stated.
He related that, as students, everyone anticipates getting good degrees and certificates.
He told the Sisters that as students, and humans, stress was inevitable, but it could be managed and managed well by oneself when proper attention is paid to it.
He noted that obtaining higher scores as students is not obtained on a platter, adding, “We need to have good knowledge about the subject area they want to attain.”
“To get good knowledge means or requires that you have suitable methods, strategies, or approaches. These methods help students to know what or how to go about their work,” he averred.
He continued that, there’s one enemy always pursuing students which is stress, mentioning other factors which contribute to stress as the environment, self-imposed stress, and stress in studies.
According to Mr. Amankona, Religious students could be considered as some of the victims of stress, stating that their vocation requires that they do other activities relating to their vocation as Religious with studies inclusive.
This can be very stressful on the part of the student, he added, saying, stress can be good and at the same time bad.
The Catholic University Lecturer indicated that when stress leads one to do well, it is good stress, the stress that leads to doing something bad, it is negative or bad stress.
He, however, noted that as humans, stress is part of us and if it is part of humans, people should know how best to handle it.
According to the facilitator, stress can be categorised into four types- Psychological signs that have to do with the difficulty in concentrating; Emotional signs such as being angry, frustrated, moody; Physical stress such as high blood pressure Changes in weight and Behavioral stress such as poor self-care and relying on drugs and alcohol to cope.
He enumerated some of the causes of stress as learning, family, friends, and the environment while signs of stress could include changes in mood, difficulty sleeping, sweaty palms, feeling anxious, Diarrhea, low energy.
He encouraged the Sisters to know themselves and their strengths and remained there, urging them “Seek solutions to problems by talking to other people you can confide in. Have a good rest then develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle.”
Participants present at the workshop included Sr. Martha Attakruh, member of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus (SHCJ), who is the programme Coordinator for Ghana, and student Sisters (ASEC Sisters) from many different Congregations studying at the Catholic University, Ghana.
By Sr. Emmanuella Dakurah, HHCJ (Sister Communicator)
