My Day Job in Student Affairs

Hello my loyal readers! It is crazy to think this is the last Friday of June. Where is the time going?!?! I hope you all are enjoying this first official day of summer. What are some of your summer plans? Any cool trips or projects? Make sure you leave them for me to read in the comments!

I will not lie, this week I really thought about skipping a post because work has been busy, and my mental energy is zapped at the end of the day with the season of life I am in at work right now. When talking over dinner Monday night with my fiancé I kept asking him what I should write about. He said “what about the work you do during the day?”

I have always thought about and wanted to share what I do as my day job, but have never gotten around to talking about it on here. This week seemed like good timing especially since I had my yearly professional evaluation this week as well.

I have mentioned what I do on here before to some degree, and it is in my bio on instagram, but I am a student affairs professional at a community college during the day.

What is Student Affairs?

The easiest way to describe student affairs is that we are the support system of the student on campus while they attend college. There is the faculty and curriculum side of the house where you earn the degree through, but there is also the side of resources and personnel that help a student succeed in and outside of the classroom. People and resources like tutoring, writing centers, academic advisors, career counselors, diversity officers, organizations and leadership, residence life, and it goes on.

“Higher Education is about way more than what you learn about in class but about the experiences you have along the way.”

Why I decided to go into it?

I attended undergraduate during the years of 2009-2013. When it came to my values with a career choice, job availability was a big factor. Going to college at the end of the great recession certainly made me look long and hard into career outlook, as well as what I would do on a daily basis.

When I decided to go to college at eighteen, I always knew I wanted to help people in my future career but not be in the medical field. I had looked into guidance counseling most of high school and it was something I was still interested in pursuing as a career once I got to college. It was my plan to earn a Bachelor of Science in Psychology before going to graduate school to earn a Master’s in Counseling. That was until the spring semester of my junior year.

I liked most of what guidance counselors did, but it didn’t have as much availability as I would have liked at the end of the day with jobs.

I ended up taking a counseling class by happenstance during the spring of my junior year and we did a role playing exercise. In my role playing exercise my partner was acting as a patient who had been contemplating suicide. I knew in that moment that the responsibility of being a counselor was not something for me since I am a feeler at the end of the day. It wouldn’t have been good for my mental health to carry that load day in and out.

Thankfully in my counseling class my professor had multiple graduate students talk about their masters program, and one was representing the “college personnel” program. I was highly intrigued by everything they said describing the field and could easily see myself enjoying it. I loved school and college, so why not pursue a career in it?

I ended up contacting my academic advisor at the community college I attended prior to the university, and ended up deciding to pursue a career in Student Affairs. In the Fall of 2013 I started my master’s program at The University of South Carolina, and ended up graduating in May of 2015.

What is my actual daily role?

It is hard for me to believe I have been in my professional field for six years already, and eight if you count my time and experiences in graduate school. During the eight years I have had many roles. I have been an

Academic Coach

Conference Planner

Undecided Academic Advisor

Graduate Program Admissions Representative

Pre-Nursing Advisor

Career Counselor

and finally my current role as

Dual Enrollment Advisor/GEAR Up Coordinator

I took on my new role as a Dual Enrollment Advisor in October of 2020, and was given the GEAR Up Coordinator duties in April of 2021. So needless to say it has been a lot of change, transitioning, and learning these past eight months during my work days.

What is very neat, humbling, and exciting is the fact I get to work with 11th and 12th graders at my old high school with helping them enroll and be successful in college courses.

I advise students on the different pathways we can offer, the requirements, and on what courses they can take the next semester. Once they are enrolled I reach out fairly consistent, and check to see how they are performing in their classes a few times a semester, and connecting them to resources. I also help seniors apply and make college decisions, which is always fun for me.

“I think the coolest part about my current job is that I get to do the parts of guidance counseling I was always drawn to and I also get to impact students from my hometown community.”

Well friends there you have it! I hope you enjoyed learning about what led me to my career, and what I do on a basic level during the day. It has been constantly changing since April 1st, so I have a hard time diving deep into what I do in all my duties assigned. Maybe that will be another blog post at a different time.

The biggest thing I get to do is just helping students, which to me is the best part of the job.

Until next time,