As a academic advisor, I feel like I need to be very positive, encouraging but also honest and realistic. I have a student who is in his 50's and struggles with some unspecified learning challenges. He was able to finish his last semester despite the challenges that he faced with his transition to online courses because of COVID19. Even though he finished, he was very concerned about continuing. He wanted me to help him drop his classes for Fall because they are going to be online.
1. What were your motives for helping this person?
This was a student who I have helped through various tasks because of his lack of computer literacy. We have a good rapport and I felt like I could change his mind about dropping his courses. I was concerned because if he dropped his courses for Fall, he might not come back to finish his A.A degree. I did not want his fears to take over and overshadow all the progress he already made.
2. Did you benefit from this relationship in any way? How?
The benefit to me was knowing that I could inspire him to keep going. I can relate to his fears in some ways and if someone just assumed that I was hopeless, it would have really discouraged me. I also wanted to prove to myself that I am good at my job.
3. What was your role in the helping relationship? In what way do you think you helped this person? Looking back, is there anything that you might have done differently?
I ended up convincing him to stay in his courses even though they were online, especially since it was only 2. I told him that there are many students that are nervous about the Fall semester being online. I told him that he had until the end of the summer to make his final decision about his classes, but that he should talk to the instructors and get as much information as he can before he made a final decision. At the end, he seemed a lot more positive about taking courses. I can't think of anything I could have done differently. Although I was surprised that I was able to keep him in the game.
4. Was there anything that this person did, said, or believed that you did not agree with? How did you react?
He believed that it would be too hard. I asked him about all the other challenges he has faced in his life and he said that he never thought he would have made it to this point. So I used that to encourage him.
5. Did you learn anything from this relationship?
I think that I have learned that I can be more patient with people than I originally thought. I am able to express empathy and encourage success more than I thought.