During high school, they never said, “Jared, you need help.” They just said, “Jared, you’ve got problems.”
Well, four years later, I’m happy to admit that during the fall of 1998, I finally sought therapy to confront those problems. For an hour and a half each week for three months, a therapist helped me escape the daily stressors of life.
Instead of remaining in this chaotic, fast-paced college world, I was allowed to spend those precious moments learning about my personality and the powerful therapy I was reluctantly investing my money in. Thanks to therapy, I was well on my way to becoming a happier person with a new passion in life. That passion, my friends, was for the very thing I paid for that semester: massage therapy.
It all started when my friend, Heather, persuaded me to sign up for a massage class at the University Health Center. The class met once a week at the Campus Recreation Center and was lead by Geoff Gilbert, a certified massage therapist, who shared amazing information with us about the power of human contact and massage. He also taught relatively easy, but surprisingly effective, massage techniques to use in combating stress.
During the semester, I feared failing Draper’s infamous “Introduction to Finance” class, and so, I was experiencing high levels of stress and low self-esteem. The first class of my major ailed me, but surprisingly, taking the massage class helped me cope with the stress.
Massage was so influential because the knowledge we gained and the skills we applied during those sessions were simply phenomenal. Before our very eyes, while working with a partner, we would gradually heal each other from the stress in our lives. Whether we were giving or receiving 15-minute massages during the class, we were able to release the evil effects of stress from deep within ourselves.
Not only did we learn hands-on that massage fights stress, we also found out that massage can help EVERYONE by reducing the symptoms of depression, headaches and PMS. Additionally, Geoff once told us about a study involving college women with eating disorders. These discontented women actually felt better about their bodies after they received 12 consecutive weekly massages. Massage can alter and improve self-esteem, too. That’s some powerful stuff.
For those of you who haven’t experienced an effective massage, let me tell you what it feels like. For me, it’s often like being at the beach on a warm, summer night, sharing an intoxicating kiss with a young woman I’m crazy about, while finding out that I was only one correct answer away from an “A” in Draper’s class. Basically, it’s the second best thing to [pure bliss]. Surprisingly though, a great massage can also leave you feeling energized.
During the same semester, Heather and I saw Geoff at a Terrapin football game and he told us that both the health center and the Department of Health and Human Performance were hopeful that our massage class would be offered regularly for credit.
Six months later, the course was finally offered for three credits during the 1999 summer session and this newborn class was the most sought after in the health department. During the summer, I wanted to register for a fall HLTH 498A class, so I checked SEATS on a daily basis. To my surprise, it wasn’t offered. This summer, however, HLTH 498A is once again here to stay, but I’ll be long gone. Who knows when it’ll be offered during the fall and spring.
I suppose it’s difficult to implement a regularly scheduled course where classmates interact primarily by touching each other. Also, I understand that human contact will often be controlled in order to prevent crimes like assault, but if a massage is given properly and with good intentions, everyone can win. That’s why friends of mine who have taken the health center’s massage class continue to support it and why some of them have taken it more than three times.
The more students take a massage class on campus, the more they will be able to protect themselves from stress after graduation. Geoff once challenged us to commit ourselves to using these “life skills” for the rest of our lives to experience the long-term psychological benefits of massage.
During his first HLTH 285 class each semester, Dr. Schiraldi, instructor of the best courses I’ve taken here, recommends that students “recreate without guilt.
Forgive me, Schiraldi, for I have sinned; it has been 12 months since my last massage class. This semester, though, I am renewing my faith in massage therapy. I will no longer deny myself the power of massage simply because of the excuse “I don’t have time.”
If you are seriously considering taking the massage class on campus this semester, but feel as though you can’t handle the time commitment, imagine how productive, relaxed and energized you’ll feel after spending a good two hours in therapy. Hey, if you can acknowledge that you aren’t completely protected from stress, you have succeeded in taking the first step in preventing this self-induced suffering.
Now, take the next step before you do any more damage. See a massage therapist because frankly, you need help.
Jared Meyer is a senior finance major. His column will appear alternate Fridays. He can be reached at jmmeyer@wam.umd.edu.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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