Episode 5: Kelsey Varzeas, EdM, on Finding Your Identity and Living Out Your Values

47m · Wellbeing on Purpose · 01 Dec 11:00

Kelsey Varzeas, EdM, is a second-year PhD student pursuing a degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs at The Ohio State University. Her research focus is student-athlete development with an emphasis on the academic-athletic divide and identity development. Recently, Kelsey was a co-author for a paper titled, Compassionate Teaching During COVID-19: Key Approaches in a College Success Center and a contributor for an oral presentation titled, Realms of Stress Among Collegiate Student-Athletes. Kelsey is an instructor for the Dennis Learning Center’s flagship course Learning and Motivation Strategies for Success in College and an academic coach for graduate and professional students. In her role, she incorporates mental health strategies to help students determine what success means to them.

In 2017, Kelsey received her Master of Education in Counseling with a specialization in Sport and Performance Psychology. Kelsey will soon be a Certified Mental Performance Consultant, which demonstrates the highest standards of professional practice for sport and performance psychology consultants. Kelsey would refer to herself as an outdoor enthusiast. She finds great pleasure in endurance running, cycling, hiking, and backcountry skiing. You can often find her lying in her hammock reading a book.

Topics we cover include:

1. Introduction to personal background and identity - exploring who you are, in and outside of work/academia
   
2. Uncovering one’s career path -- how and when did Kelsey decide to pursue your career and/or academic field?
   
3. When was a time Kelsey has felt a lack of purpose and/or well-being in her life, and what helped her
   
4. Finding mentors and/or a support system
   
5. As a coach/consultant working with athletes, where does Kelsey see gaps between identity, purpose, and one's well-being?
   
6. What is making Kelsey thrive
   
7. Where Kelsey notices the intersection of purpose and/or well-being woven within her work.
   
8. What living a life well-lived looks like to Kelsey

Action items for listeners:

• VIA - Character Strengths Assessment
• Dr. Kristen Neff's book on Self Compassion 
• Dr. Brene Brown
• Connect with Kelsey on Instagram

The episode Episode 5: Kelsey Varzeas, EdM, on Finding Your Identity and Living Out Your Values from the podcast Wellbeing on Purpose has a duration of 47:43. It was first published 01 Dec 11:00. The cover art and the content belong to their respective owners.