Know a Struggling College Student?
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My desire to become a coach actually stemmed from being a college professor and academic advisor for 27 years. After concluding course scheduling, students often wanted to talk about their goals while in college as well as beyond college, in the “real world.” This type of discussion turned out to be my favorite type of advising. My favorite part was helping students identify where they wanted to improve in their academic career and where they were aiming to go once they graduated. I knew, though, that as much counseling skills and college experience as I had, I was still missing a set of tools.
So, from about 2017 onward I toyed with the idea of becoming an academic coach. Because personal coaching provides a set of skills that help others move from point A to point B, it’s precisely what I needed to support my advisees. Asking students how they might improve in college was a welcomed way for them to be in the driver's seat of their own academic career.
Sometimes young college students feel as if things are being done to them. For example, grades are being given to them, classes are being assigned to them, and I always viewed this as an extension of their experience in high school--where teachers and parents tell their children what to do. With young adults, one of the great opportunities of college is for them to begin to realize they are in the driver’s seat and that this is the beginning of their professional life. To the degree I could facilitate that, I was successful as an advisor.
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Now as a coach, I love to offer that same skill set to current college students. Let's face it, many faculty are overwhelmed, (who often are the advisors here), removed from the classroom and have such a large advising load, can't provide the sort of reflection space that as a coach I can. As someone who understands the ins and outs of college life from both an academic and social point of view, I can facilitate that intentional embracing of power of responsibility and purpose of destination for my clients. I'm not their parents and I'm not a faculty member, in a position to evaluate and grade them. Instead I'm a reliable and responsible other who can make space for them and allow them to take control of their own academic career.
