Who's ready to be a college student?
The first question we all ask ourselves within the first week of college seems to be, What did I get myself into?! How am I supposed to adjust from high school to college? How am I even going to survive?! Well Bloomsburg University took care of these questions with an amazing collaboration of programs and classes. I am referring to the university's College success initiative. In order for freshmen to succeed in college, they need to figure out their everyday habits, strengths, weaknesses, stress and time management. Freshmen at BU are required to take a course known as College Success, and to have a meeting with their academic coach within the first few weeks of college. They mainly serve undeclared freshmen, but are offered to any student on campus at anytime.
The enormously tall red/brown
bricked building called Simon Hall, holds the office of a young, caring and
vibrant academic coach known as Virginia Larson. Simon hall resides on Bloomsburg's lower campus for easy access to all the students. Pandemonium occurs on every floor because of the strong fluctuation of students on a daily basis. Prior to students walking in they notice a sign above the door labeled Academic coaches, Math Lab, Conference room, and UTS Secretary. Once a student walks in they see a group of students collaborating and hear the comments of numbers and problems.These students are mainly Math lab groups and tutors. The students range from upperclassmen to new freshmen. After walking around the first corner of the building the first door to the left is Ginny's. The door is labeled coach in neon pink lettering. Her office is full of her personal items and her two degrees on brown shelves. One small blue chair sits directly in front of her desk for any student that has an appointment. You can expect a big grin and a smile followed by a handful of questions, "How has your semester been going? What can I assist you with today? How are your grades looking so far this semester?"Any student that comes for an appointment or check up with Mrs. Larson can expect a successful meeting.
Virginia Larson prefers to be called by her nickname Ginny. She was born in Ohio, yet grew up in Bloomsburg. She attended Bloomsburg University where she earned her B.S. Buisness Administration, and later on her Masters in Education with a focus of college student affairs. She teaches the first semester freshmen course known as college success. She loves BU and cannot see herself relocating any time soon. Overall she has been an academic coach for 3 years.
So what exactly does an academic coach do here at BU? Their main goal would be helping undeclared freshmen with their transition to college from high school. They help students with completed assignments, study techniques, and provide connections on campus. They meet with students usually day to day and appointment to appointment. They meet with freshmen students that receive a D or lower by midterms of their first semester. As well they offer student internships that are revolved in their line of work. Ginny explains, "So a lot of the time, we'll say we are a guidance counselor for college, but don't schedule classes for students like the academic advisers". Ginny also added in that they now have a site for the academic coaches. Alongside students coming to see her, she comes to them by instructing the College success course. This course is designed mainly for undeclared freshmen and transfer students. The class promotes a positive transition from high school to college life, by the exposure of campus resources, self exploration as a student, and helpful tips and guides to everyday situations. Ginny teaches two of the college success courses this current semester. The class usually runs for about 45-60 minutes. Ginny explains, "there are a vast amount of speakers that come in for my courses. The university provided this course to students so that they could become more involved with the campus as a whole." The speakers could be anyone from the university that offers a certain program or curriculum. Some examples would include diversity instructors, university tutor services, residential living, Greek life, and fitness instructors, or in this case upperclassmen.
It was the late afternoon in Bakeless 211 on Wednesday February 4th It was a small tan room with about 30 grey desks. There was a projection of the daily schedule for the current class, and what's expected for the next. There were students of different ethnicity, gender, and age. The majority were undeclared freshmen.They were all there under the universities requirement for freshmen and transfer students. Ginny made her small announcements as to what was going on in the class for the day. "Everyone remember to set up your next appointment with me. This appointment will be about your major exploration project for the course." She introduced her upperclassmen student panel who came to talk to students about college life. Each stated their year, major, and reason for being there. They all came back from negative situations and turned them into positive. They gave advice about college study tips, getting involved, speaking to professors, One student named Brendan Kelly explained one of his major tips, "Take classes during the summer and winter. They can be beneficial to your GPA and can guide someone to graduating on time". Anyone sitting there could feel the vibe of the classroom
change. Everyone wanted to ask a question that could be beneficial to their
needs. One female student sitting in the far back of the small room asked a question about majors and minors. "I am thinking about majoring in marketing and minoring in psychology. Will that be too much work?" Gabby Nisiolos replied with a few quick short answers. "Take your courses seriously now. Take as many courses as you can handle. Know your boundaries and explore your abilities on campus." The positive responses from the upperclassmen's mouths made an evident impact in the freshmen's minds. As the class concluded, the upperclassmen offered their emails for any student looking for assistance or advice. Ginny ended the class with a small reminder. "Make sure to check your BOLT account for the event I am going to post. Have a great day everyone!"
The enormously tall red/brown
bricked building called Simon Hall, holds the office of a young, caring and
vibrant academic coach known as Virginia Larson. Simon hall resides on Bloomsburg's lower campus for easy access to all the students. Pandemonium occurs on every floor because of the strong fluctuation of students on a daily basis. Prior to students walking in they notice a sign above the door labeled Academic coaches, Math Lab, Conference room, and UTS Secretary. Once a student walks in they see a group of students collaborating and hear the comments of numbers and problems.These students are mainly Math lab groups and tutors. The students range from upperclassmen to new freshmen. After walking around the first corner of the building the first door to the left is Ginny's. The door is labeled coach in neon pink lettering. Her office is full of her personal items and her two degrees on brown shelves. One small blue chair sits directly in front of her desk for any student that has an appointment. You can expect a big grin and a smile followed by a handful of questions, "How has your semester been going? What can I assist you with today? How are your grades looking so far this semester?"Any student that comes for an appointment or check up with Mrs. Larson can expect a successful meeting. 
So what exactly does an academic coach do here at BU? Their main goal would be helping undeclared freshmen with their transition to college from high school. They help students with completed assignments, study techniques, and provide connections on campus. They meet with students usually day to day and appointment to appointment. They meet with freshmen students that receive a D or lower by midterms of their first semester. As well they offer student internships that are revolved in their line of work. Ginny explains, "So a lot of the time, we'll say we are a guidance counselor for college, but don't schedule classes for students like the academic advisers". Ginny also added in that they now have a site for the academic coaches. Alongside students coming to see her, she comes to them by instructing the College success course. This course is designed mainly for undeclared freshmen and transfer students. The class promotes a positive transition from high school to college life, by the exposure of campus resources, self exploration as a student, and helpful tips and guides to everyday situations. Ginny teaches two of the college success courses this current semester. The class usually runs for about 45-60 minutes. Ginny explains, "there are a vast amount of speakers that come in for my courses. The university provided this course to students so that they could become more involved with the campus as a whole." The speakers could be anyone from the university that offers a certain program or curriculum. Some examples would include diversity instructors, university tutor services, residential living, Greek life, and fitness instructors, or in this case upperclassmen.
It was the late afternoon in Bakeless 211 on Wednesday February 4th It was a small tan room with about 30 grey desks. There was a projection of the daily schedule for the current class, and what's expected for the next. There were students of different ethnicity, gender, and age. The majority were undeclared freshmen.They were all there under the universities requirement for freshmen and transfer students. Ginny made her small announcements as to what was going on in the class for the day. "Everyone remember to set up your next appointment with me. This appointment will be about your major exploration project for the course." She introduced her upperclassmen student panel who came to talk to students about college life. Each stated their year, major, and reason for being there. They all came back from negative situations and turned them into positive. They gave advice about college study tips, getting involved, speaking to professors, One student named Brendan Kelly explained one of his major tips, "Take classes during the summer and winter. They can be beneficial to your GPA and can guide someone to graduating on time". Anyone sitting there could feel the vibe of the classroom
change. Everyone wanted to ask a question that could be beneficial to their
needs. One female student sitting in the far back of the small room asked a question about majors and minors. "I am thinking about majoring in marketing and minoring in psychology. Will that be too much work?" Gabby Nisiolos replied with a few quick short answers. "Take your courses seriously now. Take as many courses as you can handle. Know your boundaries and explore your abilities on campus." The positive responses from the upperclassmen's mouths made an evident impact in the freshmen's minds. As the class concluded, the upperclassmen offered their emails for any student looking for assistance or advice. Ginny ended the class with a small reminder. "Make sure to check your BOLT account for the event I am going to post. Have a great day everyone!"
Overall Bloomsburg's initiative to make college freshmen lives more successful has been a major achievement. Using academic coaches to instruct the college success courses has built relationships with freshmen and faculty to new level. Freshmen are examining their everyday habits and adjusting to change. Their transitions are smoother in comparison to those before them. College life seems to lose it's intimidation on new incoming students. An occasional visit to your academic coach like Ginny can change your whole college experience. I highly recommend any new incoming student to stop by Simon Hall and set up an appointment to see Ginny. That one visit could change someones entire life!
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