Tough conversations, great environment

This past week exposed me to both difficult conversations and wonderful, supportive conversations.

I met with a couple of students this week who were facing high levels of anxiety regarding their major and career paths. One student was extremely worried that she will be "too late" in declaring a major if she doesn't decide right now, but she has absolutely no idea what she wants to study. I tried to convince her that that's ok, especially because she is a first-semester freshman, but I don't think she bought it. She wants to make sure that every course will "count" for something, which is difficult when she has no real direction yet. She was very stressed about having a course on her schedule that "only" counts for elective credit. The conversation was pretty tough, and I ended up referring her to the Career Center.

The hardest conversation I've had so far, though, was with a student who really needed to visit the counseling center. He had become depressed, and a large part of his depression seemed to be related to his progress toward his desired major. It was by far the hardest meeting I've had at DGS since I've started, but I would prefer not to go into details on this blog. I can talk a little more about it during our next meeting. This meeting reminded me of an article I read for my upcoming Interview paper for EOL 583, in which the authors found a connection between career counseling and emotional issues (Fouad et al., 2006).

On the other end of the spectrum, Friday really solidified for me the strong support network that is present in our office. First, we had a "going away party" for one of our advisors who is moving to a different advising position on campus. Everyone brought a vegetarian dish because she is vegetarian and took turns telling everyone a memory or fun thing about her. It was very touching and kind of sad, but it was great because it showed how everyone comes together to support each other.

I also blocked out some time in my schedule on Friday to meet and talk with the newly hired full-time advisor. It was a really good conversation that started with him asking me questions about what helped me adjust to the fast pace as a new advisor. We ended up talking for an hour and a half, and other advisors popped in now and then to contribute stories and advice. Afterward, the new advisor told me how much he appreciated the conversation and that he really felt part of the team. What a great way to round out the week! The talk reminded me a little bit of the Renn and Hodges (2007) article from our 583 class because it illustrated experiences of new professionals. I think the new advisor and I were able to share the kinds of experiences presented in that article because we are both new. It is very encouraging to make that connection.