Fletcher- Week 2- Undergraduate Academic Advising

Activities: 

• Organized student files and materials for the daily orientation sessions.

• Met with future students during orientation and discussed their upcoming goals while attending school at Mississippi State University.
• Made a "Strengths & Weaknesses" lists with students who were truly undecided in what they wanted to major. 
• Sat with and encouraged confused, undecided students and helped demystify the major and minor selection process.

• Instructed future students on the course registration process and how to fulfill the core course curriculum while deciding on a major.

• Troubleshot during orientation sessions by communicating with command center about registration errors during academic advising portion of orientation.

Reflection: 
   At this point, orientation is nearing the final sessions. For many departments, this may be the point where routines are set and anxieties about orientation seem to dissipate. This is not the case for academic advising. With each orientation session, classes begin to fill and close. This means, as orientations progress, the level of difficulty for changing schedules increases. It is becoming more and more likely that the schedule freshmen are assigned will be the schedule they keep. This is not all bad. In fact, it provides me with a great opportunity to use my newly acquired counseling skills to assure incoming freshmen that the schedule they have is doable and that they have every chance at succeeding. During these later academic advising sessions, less focus is on swapping classes and altering course sections and more time is spent discussing future academic or vocational plans with the student. Once student's the initial shock of seeing his or her name on a college class schedule passes, the important conversations of "Where to go from here" can begin. These conversations are the best part of my practicum so far. Helping to lead a student from fear and uncertainty to peace and confidence is one of the most rewarding moments I have ever experienced.

    In class, we have been discussing "fit" and what we hope to find in our careers after we graduate from MSU. After experiencing a large, public SEC-involved school and a small, public school that could not care less about sports, I can honestly say I can see benefits in both, but I prefer the smaller option. Over the past 5 years, I have noticed a sense of pride in myself when conversing about STEM-based topics. My passion for student involvement in STEM-based fields is growing everyday. Thus, I hope my future occupation involves direct content with science, math, and engineering students and faculty. Working for a STEM- and research-driven university seems like an appropriate environment. I am looking to work at a school where athletics take a backseat to academics. With the prospect of academic advising, I would love to work with students who are involved in research and/or looking to take graduate school entrance exams such as the GRE, MCAT, and LSAT. My ideal area to live in is a large city, possibly metropolitan area, that is seen as much more more than a college town. Recently, I have taken an interest in looking at Boston, Miami, Chicago, and St. Louis for possible future employment. Networking at professional conferences such as SACSA and NASPA are vital to making the connections that might provide me with a job in one of those cities in the future.

-Kimberly Fletcher