Meet A Deac Monday
Happy Monday, Deac families – hope you had a great Fourth of July weekend! Even though we are closed today, Mondays are Meet A Deac days, and I prescheduled this post. It’s my pleasure to introduce you to Peter Rives (’98) of the Office of Wellbeing.
Peter, thanks for doing this. Let’s jump right into it!
Tell me your title and how long you’ve worked at Wake. I’m the Assistant Director of Wellbeing, Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention, and I have been at Wake for five years.
I already know some of your educational background, because you are an alumnus, but walk me through the full picture. My undergrad degree was from Wake: I have a BA in Psychology. I also went to the University of Delaware for three years of doctoral study in Social Psychology, and I am currently completing my second of three years at UNC-Chapel Hill for a Master’s in Social Work.
What do you do at Wake (in layperson’s terms?) I am the person who oversees alcohol and drug programming for students. There are three main tiers to my work: prevention and education, intervention and behavior change, and recovery support. I create, implement, and evaluate programming to help students to reduce the harms that alcohol and other drugs can have in their lives and support them in making healthy choices.
How did the pandemic impact your work? I had to virtualize everything. Also during COVID, as part of my graduate program, I was an intern in the WFU Women’s Center, where I created a comprehensive program for the campus community related to exploring healthy masculinity. You can see more about that at go.wfu.edu/mfulmasc.
What was your biggest COVID challenge? Balancing work, graduate school, and raising four kids was challenging – all the while re-learning how to do everything we normally do in a way that was safe given the COVID context.
We are all looking forward to more normal times on campus this fall. What did you miss most about ‘normal’ life this past year? Seeing people’s smiles. Hard to do with a mask on 🙂
What is the best thing about working at Wake, in your opinion? The people. I work with the greatest, most collaborative colleagues and I absolutely love working with our bright and passionate students.
Speaking of students, what advice would you offer them if you could? Avoid liquor. Hard liquor accounts for the vast majority of our alcohol poisoning problems and our conduct cases related to alcohol. If you choose to drink (and remember that over 1,000 of our undergrads don’t!), then choose lower ABV (alcohol by volume) drinks, make sure you’ve eaten, and pace and space your drinks.
And advice for parents and families..? The research is clear – families matter when it comes to drugs and alcohol. Communicate your clear expectations that you do not want drugs and alcohol to negatively impact their life here at Wake, and also that you’re there to support them if they want to talk. Research shows that a 30 minute call on a Thursday or Friday from mom, dad, or their guardian significantly reduces risk on the weekend (and you don’t even have to talk about drugs or alcohol). That’s why I often talk about the Friday phone call in the Daily Deac!
Now we’ve arrived at my favorite part of Meet A Deac: the lightning round bonus questions!
Book you are reading now: How to Write One Song by Jeff Tweedy
Favorite music: When I was at Wake as a student, I was lead singer in a band and Music Director of Wake Radio – so I kinda LOVE music. But right now, probably Wilco.
TV, movies, Netflix: Alone (survival show on History); Justified; anything Star Wars; Stinky and Dirty (with my little kids)
Websites you frequent: godeacs.com and go.wfu.edu/aod
Guilty pleasure: Sometimes I leave work and drive to the mountains, hike in, cook dinner, watch the sunset, sleep under the stars, wake up before sunrise and hike out and am back at work before my first meeting. It is so refreshing.
Introvert or extrovert? Gregarious introvert. I love people (and talking) but it takes a toll on my energy and I need to recharge.
Something most people don’t know about you: Sometimes I like to put on a bowtie and top hat and ride a motorcycle into sporting events…
What was at the top of your post-pandemic bucket list? Reinstate a weekly date night with my wife!
What didn’t I ask you that you wish I had? “Does weed help with sleep?” No. Like alcohol, it disrupts your ability to get quality, restorative sleep. It is tricky, because it does make you sleepy. College students rarely get all the sleep they need, so laying off cannabis and alcohol can really help with that.
Many thanks for being our Meet A Deac this week, Peter! And thank you for all you do for our students and our campus!
PS – Want to see past Meet A Deacs? Visit the archive.