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The Student Success Team works well together because we all are a team. We are all working
towards the same goal which is to help students become successful, and I feel that everyone
is on the same page. We're learning as we go and we're very supportive of each other
through that process. The experience that we're giving to students include allowing
them to see that there is a network of support out there that includes a whole team. And
it takes a whole team to really help them achieve whatever their goals are, so to help
them be academically and personally successful takes a team of people who are dedicated,
passionate, and are willing to meet the students where their needs are.
As one of the counselors, I've been involved with the coaching staff, with the instructors
of College One, and with the students themselves, so I've been able to work with students and
the staff from all angles of this program. Students come to us not knowing a lot about
why they're in higher ed. and how to navigate it, so I think our role is very critical in
helping them understand the steps that they need to take to get where they want to go.
I feel like my role in supporting the Student Success Team is working on identifying student
needs. I do the ed. planning and work with students one-on-one but also collaborating
and coordinating with the rest of the team to help make sure that our students' needs
are met from my angle. My role within the Student Success Team is
to advocate for students and to really understand their needs, and to voice their needs to administration
and their instructors, and kind of through a collaborative effort, just make a better educational
experience for all of these students. My role is the gap between a tutor and a counselor.
We're usually the first main contact for students when they join our program. Students might
feel lost and not know what to do, so they can always come to talk to the First-Year
Coach and then we can tell them other resources that they can contact, so that they get the
help that they need. As tutors we're very important in becoming
facilitators. We facilitate their learning in a lot of ways, and we also encourage and
enable them to ask questions and to not be afraid.
We're peers, we're equal. I just happen to be good at math and be working as a tutor.
Aside from that, I'm going through mid-terms, I'm going through finals, I'm feeling the
same stress that they're feeling. I see that students really relate to that, when they
know that you understand what it's like. I see myself as maybe the difference between,
making the difference between a B or an A. Or, making the difference between an F and
a C as a tutor. I'm not going to make the whole grade for them but I can, when someone
is on the verge with a high B, really close to getting an A, receiving tutoring might
be that little extra kick they need to become an A level student. There's a lot of support,
but then again, I see how it's setting students up to become independent, because I already
see students who are tutoring their friends, like helping each other out.
I think the experience becomes more of a long-term learning experience instead of just like,
I'm going to go to college and learn two or three things and then get out. It becomes
more of a, learning about yourself and also learning what works for you and what doesn't
so you can continue at that throughout your life, both in your academics and in your personal
life. So we prepare them for their future, instead of just preparing them for the two
years that they are here at PCC. More of our First-Year students are moving
on to the second year with clearer expectations and feeling good about working with their
professors and with asking for help where they need it.
I had a big misconception that you can't really transfer in two years, it's impossible. Minimum,
everyone would tell me that's it's minimum three years, so a lot of the people that I
was hearing this from would tell me things like, yeah so, I'm kind of taking it easy
right now so because either way, I'm not going to transfer in two years. So, going in I kind
of had that in mind, I was a little skeptical, like is that true? Is that really true? Am
I going to be here for three, four, five years like I see other students or other peers?
And Pathways overall they proved to me, they helped prove to myself that it is possible
to get in, and get out of here. So the experience was really helpful and I'm really grateful
for everything that the counselors, and the coaches, and the tutors have done.