Dedicated students, distinguished colleagues and dear friends,

Happy Friday!

Communicating with all of you through my weekly Friday messages has been an invaluable learning experience and a highlight of my career. And, yes, I personally write every single message — there are no “ghost writers” as some have inquired. The reward? Dozens of responses that I receive every week from generations of alumni, students, colleagues and friends. I receive responses from our alumni from all 50 states and Canada, south and central America, north and sub-Sahara Africa, the Middle East, Far East and many other parts of the world. Interestingly, one of my occasional responders is a 1949 graduate of our mining engineering program!

Another question that is frequently posed is how the topics are selected. Here is where I have lots of help. Suggestions come from faculty, staff and students as well as from all of you. Often, the messages reflect the current or pending events in the community or on campus, such as S&T’s upcoming Well-Being Awareness Week, which starts Monday, Feb. 10. The week is planned to promote mental health, to increase a sense of belonging and to build social connections. The more important purpose of the week is to increase awareness of mental health challenges and to seek help from all our faculty, students and staff to support each other in promoting healthy thinking! Healthy thinking does not mean a lack of mental challenges, feelings of stress or anxiety. Healthy thinking allows us to recognize that our feelings are transient, and we should not immediately act on them – simply put, our feelings are never final!

To our students, I say, if you are feeling stressed, anxious or nervous, you are not alone. No one is ever immune to the ups and downs of life. During your S&T journey, you will have successes and setbacks, acceptance and resistance, feel encouraged and discouraged, and will have wins and losses. As a result, it is normal to feel elated or dejected from time to time but remember that: 1) your feelings are short-lived and 2) you are not alone in going through emotional ups and downs. You also don’t have to go through your difficult moments alone. The question really is, how do we recognize the onset of emotional distress and muster the courage to seek help? Fortunately, right at your disposal, there are lots of coordinated services to help you overcome your temporary malaise. These include counseling services, wellness consultations, our bystander intervention program, Joe’s PEERS – a student leadership group that promotes health and well-being — and much more. The very useful BetterYou app helps set health and wellness goals and rewards you when goals are completed.

In addition to all the collegiate and professional support available to us, students, faculty and staff alike, perhaps the most important source of support for all of us are the friends with whom we interact daily. I particularly encourage our students to actively identify and establish friendships with your fellow students. Likeminded or otherwise, your new friends will expand your horizons, help you adopt inclusive behavior, embrace diversity and become positively curious about differences. In the process, you will gain lifelong friends and become a great friend to someone who needs you. In this wonderful Forbes’ article on “How to be a Good Friend,” the author offers strategies for creating great new friendships and the benefits of being able to share your thoughts with others.

In this era of expanding artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic and autonomous systems, we all need more awareness of our humanity, purpose in life and of each other’s needs. Unlike robots, we cannot live insular lives and properly function. In radical times, we need to become radically human, care for ourselves and enable our friends to overcome their moments of despair to exceed their potential. Then watch yourself become resilient to adversities, better tolerate inevitable stress, and grow and prosper.

Warmly,

-Mo.

Share your thoughts!

Read previous Friday morning messages.

Check out the latest news from S&T:

• Curators approve Missouri S&T semiconductor program
  
• Missouri S&T’s spring career fair is Feb. 18
• S&T economist: The Eagles and Chiefs have already made Philadelphia and Kansas City economic winners

Mohammad Dehghani, PhD
Chancellor
mo@mst.edu | 573-341-4116

206 Parker Hall, 300 West 13th Street, Rolla, MO 65409-0910
chancellor.mst.edu