Success Starts Early: Student Spotlight On Emma Lipshy
Juan Godoy
As a Learning Specialist at the SALT Center, I work with many new students who want to have a college experience which includes plenty of opportunities for socialization all while being successful in classes which can sometimes number in the hundreds. This can all be intimidating or overwhelming, particularly for those students coming to us from schools where classes can be as small as ten people. How then does such a student successfully balance their academics, a busy social schedule, and large class sizes?
For a student on my roster named Emma, the answer was clear from our first meeting. Instead of the usual icebreaker conversation, she asked that we immediately get to work on her calendar. I really admired her proactive attitude regarding her first week in college. Emma simply wanted to know it was OK to set our agenda according to her priorities. I was impressed with her initiative and self-direction and I worked to foster her independent spirit.
Next on her list of to-dos was to arrange her testing accommodations and we worked together diligently to ensure that they were scheduled and confirmed within the first month of the new semester. We also talked about other issues which often arise in college. For example, she let me know about her struggles with testing and her frustration with unmotivated members of group projects.
Emma also wanted to know she was getting enough help to pass her difficult college algebra class. She found that her math anxiety was lessened every time she sought help so, she invested 89 hours in math tutoring over 63 visits which lead to her eventual success in the class.
Emma never kept any of her challenges from me. She interviewed me for a class and she learned that college academic struggles are not unique but rather more universal than we think. She realized that, despite her troubles, she had a history of academic success in high school which she could build upon with the proper supports in a higher-education setting.
This liberating mindset afforded Emma a newfound sense of independence. She always got an early start on just about everything. She knew she needed to stay ahead because her commitments with Greek life required a great amount of her time. She also knew she would be making various journeys home throughout the term and this would require getting even further ahead on readings and assignments so that she wouldn’t miss any major assignments while she was away.
There were also some reality checks along the way where she didn’t do as well on tests as she had expected. Nevertheless, she followed up with her instructors, went to their office hours and strategized with them about how to make up ground on other graded work.
Emma never missed a meeting with me that first semester, nor did she neglect to follow up on visits scheduled with professors during office hours. She also knew that her academic advisor was the best source of information on which classes to take and in what order and she worked diligently with hers to understand how her first year fit into her path toward graduation.
Talking brought Emma reassurance. She thought she might be overdoing things but she soon found out that her attention to detail and great work ethic paid off. She did not get a 4.00 GPA her first semester, but she knew going in that it would be tough. She stayed positive and learned a new college level mindset that has brought her a great deal of success and instilled in her a strong sense of what it means to maintain a work-life balance and she did earn a 4.00 GPA second semester.