This article is part of a running series with Rowan University’s Wellness Center. This collaboration aims to educate students about personal well-being options. For further updates, follow @RowanUWellness on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
Friendships in adulthood can be difficult to navigate especially when it comes to recognizing a healthy friendship versus one with toxic traits. Growing older means meeting friends in many different ways, for instance, in college we meet them in class, club meetings or even as student workers. Throughout the years we are constantly growing and evolving and sometimes we may outgrow certain friendships. When we grow as a person, sometimes friendships do not grow with us. People grow in different ways and it is okay to let them go.
Healthy relationships look different for everyone but at its core they all consist of similar values. Having the ability to have open and honest communication with one another is the foundation for every friendship. When communicating, it is important to have respect and to practice active listening skills. Relationships have highs and lows and being able to stick through both of them can say a lot about the relationship. At the end of the day, regardless of which values and boundaries the relationship has set, what is important is that each person enjoys spending time with one another.
Boundaries are a vital part of every healthy relationship that help everyone feel comfortable. Just like relationships, boundaries are constantly evolving and they look different for everyone. An example of a boundary is that folks often believe that relationships consistently need to be 50-50; however, this is not always the case. Oftentimes it is okay if that number fluctuates because someone can’t always give everything all the time in a relationship.
We are all human and as humans we make mistakes, and that is okay. What really matters is how someone responds upon realizing a mistake. Mistakes can take many forms like snapping at someone, taking more in the relationship or accidentally pushing some of the boundaries a friend may have set. Upon realizing the mistake, it is important to be able to hold oneself accountable. Accountability can look different in various ways but the most well-known and appreciated is an apology and the willingness to learn and grow.
Like what you see?
Story by:
Kye Binik, senior law and justice major, Wellness Center intern
Photos by:
Valentina Giannattasio, dance and marketing double major
Produced by:
Lucas Taylor, English education graduate student
References
https://www.today.com/health/behavior/toxic-friendship-warning-signs-rcna16665
Meet Mariana Cardenas, senior 
Meet Allison
Meet Roxy Urso, junior
Meet Jessica Hassell, a second-year 
That being said, there exists no person who sets out to undertake a task and enjoys it when their efforts lead to a lack of success. The result of an unexpected outcome can leave individuals questioning their abilities, but this should not be the case. Mistakes or unexpected outcomes are necessary for experimentation, problem-solving and increasing efficiency (Driscoll, 1989; Shelton, 2017). As such, it can be helpful to remember that success is only the expected or desired outcome. Understanding what does not work can only help when developing strategies to inform future courses of action. Without unexpected results, there is no push for innovation, so the opportunity to fail should be embraced (Driscoll, 1989). 
Meet Marco Imperiale, freshman psychology major, from Toms River, NJ (Ocean County). He hopes his article, “Encourages the Rowan community to know it’s okay to be vulnerable. Everyone at one stage in life was placed in a situation that they had felt vulnerable and it may seem uncomfortable to let your guard down, but if you do so there is the only chance for growth
Meet Allegra Giannini, junior 
Meet Autumn Gittinger, senior communication studies major, from Gibbstown, NJ (Gloucester County). She wrote this article in hopes to encourage a student to take a break and feel less guilty for wanting time for themselves.
Meet Abby Broschard, junior 
Meet Autumn 
Meet 
wrote this article to start a health discussion.
Meet Roxy Urso, senior 
function, grow and recharge within just hours. When students decide to go into the next step in their lives and go to college, one of the things students lose is sleep. Most college students get an average of six hours of sleep each night, while the recommended amount of sleep for young adults is 7-9 hours a night (MayoClinic). When a person doesn’t get enough sleep each night, it can come with consequences.
of classes, and a complaint from your stomach reminds you that you haven’t eaten a meal since last night. Sometimes class schedules cut straight through normal meal times. Sometimes homework that’s due in a few hours takes priority over finding time to eat. Sometimes the 10-a-week meal plan just doesn’t cut it. But one way or another, sometimes we fill up on our morning coffee and don’t eat a meal for 18 hours or more. Perhaps the meals were replaced with snacks: a granola bar, goldfish, maybe a banana. Oh, well. It can’t be 
themselves displaying patterns of behaviors that may or may not reflect their values. 
Often, it is easier for young people to recognize abuse in intimate partnerships than in their immediate social circles. Commonly referenced in literature surrounding domestic abuse is the power and control wheel developed by the Domestic Abuse and Intervention Project in Duluth Minnesota (“Power and Control Wheels,” 2017). It details eight methods of power and control: coercion/threats, intimidation, emotional abuse, isolation, obfuscation, economic abuse, using children and using male privilege. While some elements of the Power and Control wheel may only apply to heteronormative intimate partnerships, others can be applied to all relationships. 
gmatization of eating disorders, but still little discussion about disordered eating behaviors that may not seem so obvious or extreme.” 
By joining Rowan’s EMS team students join one of the nation’s top collegiate units — standing as the only collegiate unit in the nation awarded bronze, silver, and gold awards from NCEMSF (National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation) for the organization’s preparation and readiness. Volunteers stand among peers who are required to maintain GPA standards, but still managed to accumulate a collective total of 16,000 volunteer hours as a group for the year. This organization operates as a family — relying on one another, helping one another, and laughing with one another.
certification a member goes through a six to nine month training program held at the Gloucester County EMT Training Academy paid for by the organization. Chief Howery stated, “In addition to arranging the training at no cost, we have a continual no-cost-training program. So every month, Cooper Hospital, as part of the contract that we have with them, will come to Rowan and hold training classes in various topics we suggest or recommend.”
Typical scenarios volunteers might find themselves in include medical and injury responses, transport services for medical appointments and prescription drug pick-up, emergency medical transport, community engagement, mental health responses, training and awareness spreading of proper CPR techniques and AED usage, and the installation and maintenance of campus AEDs.