Talk to your advisor!

Posted October 20, 2015 by Alison Mitchell

SLIS assigns each student an academic advisor at the beginning of the program.  As part of 401, students have to meet with their advisors to talk about course plans and get certain paperwork signed.  I remember meeting my advisor last fall, having a pleasant conversation, and moving on.  At the time, I probably thought that was our first and last meeting, since I knew what classes I wanted to take and what I wanted to do after SLIS.  I probably even thought, I’m a grown-up, how much advising do I need?

Plenty, it turns out.  I’m struggling a little bit, attitude-wise, this semester, and wasn’t feeling inspired by any of the classes offered in the spring.  In a last ditch effort to save my attitude, I sent an email to my advisor.  I outlined my lack of enthusiasm and quickly had an appointment with her for the following week.

That appointment was yesterday, and all I can say is that I’m really glad we met. She had some ideas for courses that I hadn’t considered, and a super idea for my capstone project, completely based on my personal interests and work experience.  Plus, she’s nice and funny and reminded me why I’m in this program (as I said, my attitude hasn’t been the best this semester). 

I walked out of her office with renewed hope for both the short and long term.  Really, what more could anyone ask from their advisor?