Wellness @ Columbia

Your Healing Space is our weekly newsletter that focuses on YOUR health and wellness.  We hope you'll be able to put these ideas and practices into good use in support of your education and life goals. Your physical and mental health MATTERS.
W@CSubmissions
We want to hear from you! Send us your thoughts on wellness in word or visual form. Select submissions will be shared in future W@C communications. Email Richard your submissions - rchin@colum.edu 

Notes from the Life Coach

This week's submission is from Lauren Targ, Columbia's Academic Life Coach. Lauren helps students work to achieve their goals and get the most out of their Columbia experience. Learn more about Lauren and her program on the Academic Life Coaching website. To schedule an Academic Life Coaching appointment, visit: this site or call 312-369-7645.

Finals and Graduation

What a whirlwind year this has been. It’s hard to believe we’re already nearing the end of the 2024–2025 school year. Honestly, 2024 feels like a long time ago.

We’ve navigated many challenges—both here on campus and across the globe. This spring, we say thank you to Interim President Jerry Tarrer, who kept our community grounded and informed through times of uncertainty. And we look ahead with optimism as we welcome Dr. Bolton, whose leadership promises a fresh perspective and new possibilities for Columbia.

As the semester winds down, there’s always that strange mix of exhaustion and energy in the air. The routines we’ve relied on for months begin to shift—deadlines loom, presentations wrap up, and the final push begins. Finals week is never easy. For some, it’s a haze of late nights and caffeine-fueled study sessions; for others, it’s a moment to pull everything together and give it one last go. However, it looks, it’s intense—and it’s also a powerful reminder of just how far we’ve come.

Graduation carries a different kind of weight. It’s more than caps and gowns—it’s the celebration of years of growth, challenge, resilience, and perseverance. There’s pride, absolutely, but also a certain bittersweetness. The rhythm of campus life gives way to something unknown. And yes, that uncertainty can be daunting—but it also means you’re on the edge of something meaningful.

For those of us who teach, advise, and support students, this season is deeply emotional. We watch the people we’ve mentored cross the stage and remember who they were when they first arrived. To witness their evolution—that’s why we do what we do.

Now we pause. We breathe. We reflect. And we prepare to begin again—wiser, stronger, and more deeply connected to the purpose that brings us all here.

Congratulations to all. For those heading off to new adventures—we will miss you. For those returning—we can’t wait to welcome you back for Columbia’s next season.

Be brave. Be kind.
Lauren Targ
Assistant Director of Academic Services
Academic Life Coach