Bandar Seri Begawan - Being a university student can be hard with heavy assignments and long study hours, which may result in students feeling depressed and anxious. That is why it is important to have peers who act like "counsellors" to listen to their problems and help them get through it, said a number of peer-group helpers yesterday.

A 2I-year-old first year student at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), Ak Ahmad Mukmin Pg Hj Ali Shahrun told The .Brunei Times he decided to become a peer group helper ever since he was in high school.

"I like to help people, and I once was a helper when I was in Form Three. It is important for students to talk about their problems to their peers, because I know a lot of students trust their peers more than adults because they (adults) do not understand us sometimes," he said.

He shared that being a helper was also good for him, as it enabled him to become a "stronger person".

"When someone has problems and comes to me, it shows that I am not the only one who has problems in life. Knowing that makes me a stronger person," he said.

Ak Ahmad Mukin is one of the 46 students at UBD who volunteered to take part in a two-day "Peer Group Helper" course at the university, which aims to equip participants with counselling skills to help students who face academic and emotional problems.

With regards to the course so far, he said, "It has been very helpful, especially when Ee taught us on methods of interacting with students who have problems." However, he and two other participants agreed that course should have been conducted for more than just two days to give them more time to learn all the necessary skills in counselling.

Nur Mahfuzah Ham zah, 22, a third year student said the course should have spanned four days so that the volunteers could spend more time learning how to become good counsellors.

She said that it was important to have peer group helpers who are of the same age group as the students, as many of them (students) were not willing to share their problems with adults. "My friends have told me they are scared to talk to counsellors because the counsellors might share their problems with other people," she said.

Second year student Noraini Abd Sani, 22, shared similar views. "Peers should be in each other's lives, so when someone has a problem, they can talk about it and share it so it does not (fester) inside then). If they do not let out their emotions, sometimes they may become rebellious."

She said the course was "amazing" but agreed that it could have been longer. (Rachel Thien)

The Brunei Times

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