Non-Academic Discourse Community

A discourse community is referred to as a group of people within a certain field who share common interests, knowledge and vocabulary. Every human belongs to numerous discourse communities unique to them due to family situations, religious affiliations, ethnicities, personal interests and education. Personally, I am highly involved in a variety of discourse communities, including Best Buddies, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the American culture and Utah State University to name a few. Although this is true, because of personal experience and my pursuit in the social work field at Utah State University, I am particularly familiar with a non-academic discourse community, counseling. This non-academic discourse community is

School is one of the main stressors in the lives of students today. Because of this, counseling is an important aspect within the lives of every student that is enrolled in higher education. Academics overwhelm the mind and can even lead to physical sickness at times. It is important to receive counseling because it has a direct correlation to performance in school. Individuals who actively participate in counseling and see a therapist regularly are likely to have higher success rates in school. Some benefits of counseling include having a longer attention span and processing things quicker. Rather than spending time in school thinking about daily worries, those that seek counseling are able to focus on the task at hand and conquer that. On the other hand, individuals who do not see a counselor lack the outside support and tend to struggle more in school. Counselors can also advise students about what classes to take in school in order to prepare them for college. They can also help you maintain a positive support system and keep healthy relationships while at school. Although seeing a counselor may not appear to be something that is important, counseling can have a very positive affect within the academic

Throughout my own life I have battled bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. These illnesses are as severe as stage four bronchial cancer, but unfortunately because they are emotional rather than physical, society doesn’t pay them as much attention. Being a warrior of three mental illnesses is asking to be put into a scorching fire daily and wondering if you’ll ever be able to be as normal as everybody else appears to be. My mental illnesses have affected my school performance in a very negative way the past few years. During high school I somehow managed to maintain a 4.0 G.P.A. all four years, but that number is made up of blood, sweat and many, many tears. I was blessed to be born a very intelligent young woman, but my illnesses were mental blocks for me and resulted in a decline in my school performance. I first took interest in the counseling discourse community my sophomore year of high school. I drove forty-five minutes in order to receive treatment from a well-known, skilled therapist weekly, because it was worth it. Roger helped me with a variety of different things, which ended up benefitting me in my academic career. Taking to Roger jumpstarted my recovery and helped shape who I am today. He taught me to view the world in an optimistic