By Jessy Diamba/reporter
Not only does an early visit to the advising/counseling center make sense because it’s required, but students can benefit, counseling staff say.
“When I went to college, there was no one to help me,” said NW counseling and advising assistant director Lily Calzada. “I know that there are a lot of students whose parents or siblings never went to college, and they’re the first ones, and they’re clueless. That’s how I was.”
Going through that experience made Calzada realize what she wanted to do after her education.
“[Counseling’s] an up and growing field,” she said. “When I was in college, it wasn’t even a field you majored in, and now, you do. Universities are realizing that counseling and advising are very important in a student’s academic career.”
Open six days a week with appointments available to be scheduled online 24/7, the centers want students — new or experienced — to remember they’re not alone on their path to college success.
NW counselor Brentom Jackson recognizes the road to college success isn’t the same for each student enrolled at TCC.
“I have noticed that students — although they are students — are dealing with what I consider a lot of adult problems,” he said. “What I’ve learned from that is that in a lot of ways, I have had it easier in college than some of the students I come in contact with.”
Not only do students learn from him, but Jackson also learns from his students.
“The lessons that [these students] teach me on motivation, sticking with things and overcoming obstacles are truly profound,” he said.
James Varnado has been counseling college students for 44 years — 24 of those years on NE Campus. He believes counseling and advising in community college is even more beneficial than at the university level.
“It’s important to intervene as quickly as possible into our students’ lives and make sure they have the appropriate advice and information concerning college, so they would choose carefully those [courses] that coincide with their personality and interests,” he said. “Otherwise, students are wasting a whole lot of time. Traversing the college terrain can be quite difficult, and a lot of scientific research tells us that jumping into the education arena is like jumping into the ocean without skills to navigate the waters.”
