How do you help students make the most of their college experience?

I start by finding out what they hope to accomplish generally. This often means working with them to imagine an array of possibilities. Once we have a general idea of where they want to end up, we can more intentionally focus on logistics like what classes to take in a given semester or what major or minor to pursue. When it comes to discussing individual classes, I ask students to think about why a particular class will be beneficial beyond simply ticking a box. Sometimes just meeting the requirement is sufficient, but there are so many ways to meet every requirement that we can usually identify more exciting or worthwhile options. Once we've covered coursework, we can look beyond the classroom to think about how their experiences in clubs, jobs, or other aspects of their lived experience enrich their time here and enhance their preparation for the future. Being in college has become almost the default at this point, but how students navigate college can turn the default into the dynamic.

What's one experience outside the classroom that shaped who you are today?

After I earned my associate's, I started working full-time. While that presented many challenges (see my next response!), it also gave me a strong foundation applying the skills I was learning in the classroom and set me on the path that took me across the country, into graduate school, and eventually into advising where I've found a home. Splitting my attention wasn't always a positive, but having varied experiences did inform the perspective I brought to the classroom, both in undergrad and grad school, and I'm confident that it made me a better student in the end.

What's something you struggled with as a student, and what helped you in that situation?

While I was working full-time, I stopped prioritizing my classes. Then I stopped attending. Finally, I started failing them. After two semesters, I had tanked my GPA and wound up on financial aid probation with no way to pay tuition. The worst part of the experience wasn't the bad grades or the wasted time though. It was the shame I felt at my failure. That shame was so overwhelming that I hid my failures. My friends and family thought everything was fine and that I was still making progress and earning good grades. I hadn't attended for almost a year before I finally mustered the courage to start talking about it. Once I did, I realized the people who loved me weren't disappointed in me. On the contrary, they supported me. When I finally resumed classes, faculty I had convinced myself hated me were nothing but kind and supportive as I worked my way back from probation. I lost a lot of time being scared and ashamed, and I learned that those feelings, while they were perfectly natural, weren't helpful and absolutely weren't reflective of how other people would judge my worth. The hardest step on the path back was the first one because it meant confronting my self-doubt, and l got through it by leaning on the community that had always been there for me.

What are some places you've lived or traveled to? How have those places influenced who you are or how you see the world today?

My favorite travel destination is Italy. I had the opportunity to go on a short summer study abroad program in high school and then again much later in life, and looking back at the two experiences reveals a lot about the person I've become. When I went as a teen, I was excited to visit all the tourist destinations, and I spent what little money I'd brought purchasing trinkets, some of which didn't make it into my suitcase in the rush of packing at the end of the trip. When I went back, this time with my wife, the experience was so different. Instead of dashing from monument to museum to gift shop, we relaxed on the patio of the home where we rented a room. Every morning, we walked to the same coffee shop and ate pastries while we chatted in a mix of English, Spanish, and Italian with the cafe workers. The most memorable day wasn't seeing famous art in a museum; it was taking a bus tour into the countryside and tasting cheese in a tiny mountain city. I don't think one way of traveling is inherently better than another, but I do think that, for me, simply existing in that space was a richer experience and resonates more with what I want from life today.