Occupational Wellness

What is occupational wellness?

Occupational wellness may look like finding a fulfilling career that aligns with your skills and values and engages you in a meaningful way. This can provide a sense of satisfaction and enrichment that goes beyond just earning a paycheck. Additionally, having hobbies and doing volunteer work can also contribute to a more fulfilling life, even if they don't provide income. It's all about finding a balance between work and other activities that bring you a sense of purpose and meaning.

For the RISD community, occupational wellness is very much tied to our creativity wellness. Sometimes it might even feel like one cannot exist without the other. Therefore, ensuring that creativity is well taken care of is important to secure your occupational wellness too.

Tips for Occupational Wellness during your academic career:

Plan your course load and credits to ensure that you will be able to manage your time and graduate on your timeline
Open up your learning experience with your peers and continue learning outside of studio
Understand your goals for each school year and plan courses and your major according to your needs
Have a clear understanding of projects and deadlines to plan accordingly
Stay on top of your personal health and safety while in studio (both in your daily needs and long-term well-being)
Ask for help when needed

On-Campus Resources

Career Center: the Career Center is a great resource for a vast array of career topics, including:
- Developing a resume and portfolio
- Seeking internships and jobs
- Exploring artist opportunities and residencies
- Applying for grants and fellowships
- Exploring freelancing and entrepreneurship
- Preparing for an interview
- Evaluating job offers
- Applying to graduate school
Center for Arts and Language (A&L): The A&L not only helps with writing and liberal related questions, but they also have peer guidance on artwork, starting projects, and brainstorming. It is a great resource when you encounter a block during your creative process
Student Life: provides opportunities for all students to develop personally, socially, and intellectually. You can schedule an appointment for advice and consultation for your academic support.
Student Success: Provides academic support to students from advising to academic probation and leaves of absence.
Academic Advisors: Each student is assigned with an advisor to guide you toward successfully completing your program of study. They are a great resource for planning your courses and credits to make sure you will be able to graduate on your timeline
Disability Support Services (DSS): DSS not only provides accommodations according to your academic needs, they also provide time management consultations for students who seek improvement of their organization and overall executive function skills
Co-Works: Co-Works Research Lab is RISD’s learning and research center for interdisciplinary making. We foster experimentation with emerging and traditional technologies through divisional research initiatives, industry collaborations, peer instruction and typically 2,800+ appointments per semester.

Off-Campus resources

Volunteer with a local organization
Work and/or intern with a company you find interesting
Participate in Internship Connect
Get connected with RISD alumn who work in fields you are interested in pursuing

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