One of the comments in the feedback from today's presentation indicated a need for motivating upper level students to do well, stay in college, and prepare for post graduation. A lot of what we talked about could be applied to older students. They still need to set goals, have a cheerleader in their corner, etc. The difference is the level at which they are working. For example, hopefully a junior will be pretty good at laying out his or her weekly study schedule. Additionally, they probably have an idea of what they want to do after graduation. However, despite the fact that they have achieved so much, they may need support more than ever.
I remember one particular class in my graduate program. It was summer and I had one more summer session and my thesis in the fall and I was done. But this one class was just killing me. I struggled to comprehend the material, the assignments present an even more difficult challenge, and I was definitely not motivated to work. To top it all off the professor was someone who believed that students learned more if they discovered answers for themselves so asking questions just led me to doubt whether I understood anything at all. I remember one Saturday crying at my desk because I just couldn't do it anymore. My husband came home (he had taken our daughter out to give me some quiet working time) and sat with me-reminding me how far I'd come, what my goals were, and what I would get when I finally earned that degree. I can't say that I immediately went back to work, but every time I was tempted to give up after that I remembered what he said. I reminded myself how far I'd come and what I was working for. I think our juniors and seniors need that. They need people to remind them that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and what will be there when they reach it. An uplifting speech, effective praise, or a motivational tip may be just what they need to keep going when things seem to be at their darkest.
Upper classmen also need help preparing for life after college. It's wonderful to have a job or career path in mind, but how do they get there? Hopefully students have started working with Career Services (see document for an example of what students can be doing throughout their education), and at this point we should encourage them to check out career fairs. Giving them a list of concrete actions they can take right now to prepare will help them be more motivated to get through to graduation. I was fortunate to work at a university with a fabulous Career Center (they helped me with my own job search as well). I have not had the opportunity to explore the services here at NCCU, but I do have quite a bit of material for students on finding a career after graduation. I'm happy to share that if anyone is interested.
I have also found some links to articles that might be helpful for additional ideas and information. Please let me know if there is more I can do or if we need a session specifically on this.
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