Assignment Ten - Listening Posts

 Just Talk it Out

Upon taking a dive into this assignment, I realized I had absolutely no idea what a listening post is, or that colleges even had them. Makes me feel extremely unaware of my surroundings as a third year college student. However, if I didn't know about it, maybe you don't either. A listening post, as defined by the University of Denver is "a place where folks come to talk about whatever they want to talk about." Well, if you ask me practically anywhere on a college campus can be a listening post.

While you may think that a listening post just seems like a traditional counseling centre, you're wrong. A listening post is simply a place "for unhurried conversation, to be heard and accepted, to clarify thinking [...]" and much more. Who else, other than homesick, stressed out college students could use this more? For most colleges, a listening post is somewhat of a pop up event. at Towsom University "[they] ask volunteers to be "listeners" to staff the post." These volunteers are usually trained on how to properly engage and respond to a student as they listen, and their services are often used.

While this is how listening posts are defined, and how schools like University of Denver and Towsom do things, a listening post can truly be anywhere. When I look at my campus, a campus that does not have a designated listening post or a session of sorts, my own apartment is my own personal listening post, along with the blue and gold cafeteria, or even the driving range. You can call them suckers, I like to think of them as volunteers, but no matter where I go on campus there is always someone around who is willing to listen. While they may not be properly trained to help me deal with my internal battles, that is not what a listening post is. They just listen, and sometimes thats all we need.

Some colleges offer a counseling center, some offer pop up sitting posts, but the definition truly lies within your own needs. If your friends are listening to you rant on a Friday night, thats a listening post. If the lunch lady is listening to you about your bad day, thats a listening post. If you coach lets you sit to the side and tell them about your troubles at home, that is your listening post. While there are definitions for everything, some things just have to be defined on your own. So now I ask you, where is your Listening post?