I Should Give Myself Pep Talks

The history portion of this blog is put on hold. It's too boring for me to write about right now. Not that I'm a boring person--because I am most certainly not. Now is just not the time.

Right now I work at the Academic Advisement Center for the College of Fine Arts and Communications at BYU. Each day I meet with a number of students about academic questions. I help them make graduations plans, talk with them about admission criteria, and help them understand the different requirements for each major.

But my favorite part of my job is meeting with students on academic warning or probation. I enjoy helping them think through the past semester and deciding on new goals to become more successful in the future. We talk about their concerns and the things that were hard for them. As their academic advisor, I get to help them see the importance of education and to find new ways to improve. I follow up with some of them weekly, monthly, or by the semester to keep tabs on how they are doing. I gotta say...I give some good pep talks!

Students leave my office with a new sense of confidence about education. They gain a feeling of "I can do this!" I help them recognize that they have many strengths, and how to use those strengths. After they're gone I keep record of what we talked about, so in case they come back in I can recall our discussion. As I am writing the notes from our appointment I have to chuckle. Most of the students that meet with me don't know that I am a student like them. I make it sound like I am so experienced and say things like, "Back when I was trying to decide my major...". Haha, you guys, that was like yesterday! But I come to a realization that I could benefit from my own pep talks. If I could just follow my own advise, I could be a lot better student!