One of the most important things to take advantage of in college is having an advisor that can help you every step of the way. Having this source can be a crucial key to success. Once you complete your First Year Seminar (FYS), a professor in your desired major becomes your advisor. If you decide to change your major, then your advisor will change as well. Don’t worry if you do not know what you want to concentrate your studies in, an advisor will help you with this and guide you in the right direction. One of the perks of being at a small school like Catawba is being able to take full advantage of your advisor and develop a good relationship with them.
Mike Hogewood is one of the faculty members here at Catawba. He teaches Communication classes and acts as an advisor for some of the Communications and Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) majors. He says that “Being an advisor means you give help to students so they can achieve what they want to achieve in their college career.” In addition, he also says that being an advisor is one of his favorite parts of his job because he gets to know the student on a more personal level. He says that he loves being able to make a difference in a student’s life, no matter how small that may be. He does this by “making sure they have good internships and good experiences to get their foot in the door.” He proclaims that he achieved his success in the media world because of his undergraduate advisor at Lenior-Rhyne University for helping him get an internship in broadcasting.
Having an advisor should not seem like a hassle to you. Ethan Jarrett, a senior at Catawba college, said “having an advisor has been the only way I’ve been able to make it this far.” He says that if he had to do it all over again that he would establish a relationship with his advisor much earlier on in his career. His advice to all new students is “have a plan for your classes before you go talk to your advisor because it helps you out with organizing your life.”
You are never alone when it comes to planning out your academic career.. Hogewood says that “I like to visit with my advisees at least twice a semester. . . Once before midterms to make sure they do not have any problems, and for them to know there is someone else on campus that cares about how they are doing in classes, and once at the end of the semester to register for classes.”
Every professor, whether it’s your FYS professor or your advisor, has office hours for a reason. Go talk to them and you will never have to stress out for unnecessary reasons. You always have help at the tip of your fingers. The ball is in your court, it’s up to you whether or not you take advantage of it.
