Academic Advisement -Brace Yourselves

Mr. Hogue, a tall, lean, and bearded academic adviser crashed our Freshman Seminar class last Wednesday with the intention of filling the minds of us naive and anxious freshmen concerning the daunting process of course selection. The adviser came across to me as intimidating at first, but as he slowly engaged us in the wealth of knowledge he possessed on the seemingly tedious subject of academic advisement, I felt more at ease. ‘How extraordinary!’, I thought, ‘In this overpopulated and impersonal academic institution existed a highly informed and well intentioned individual willing to assist me in this supposed crucial process’. I should point out though that this stuff on course selection and degree requirements was all too familiar to me, and why shouldn’t it be. As the dedicated student that I am I already had my course schedule of the next four years planned out since my junior year of high school. How typical? I know. Nevertheless, many of my Learning Community peers were eager to bombard the adviser with 1001 questions, which I believe he answered to the best of his ability. Given the fact that there are eighteen or so of us and only one of him, the session went by rather quickly as we all took turns calling out questions concerning math requirements, degreeworks, and summer session classes. Thankfully, Gia, with all her kindness and concern, stood at the side reiterating Mr. Hogue’s advice in much simpler terms. What would we do without this woman? I can’t speak for the rest of my peers but after the session I emerged much more refreshed and confident regarding this course selection process. Now all I need is to make it through finals. Gosh, things have gotten more complicated already.