Idaho State University’s Central Academic Advising and the Career Center are working together to host a series of workshops designed to help students make more informed decisions about classes, majors and other important issues.
Entitled “Harvest Your Potential,” the series began on Thursday, Sept. 6, and will continue through Friday, Nov. 30.
It’s easy, especially as a first year student, to feel overwhelmed by the prospect of attempting to fit both general and major-related credits into four years of school without shouldering too heavy a workload. Add to that the ordeal of arranging schedules up to a year in advance in order to manage prerequisites, and the whole situation can become deeply stressful.
Even attempting to decide upon a major can be a daunting task. This program attempts to help eradicate some of that stress, and to shed light on potential courses of action that might otherwise have gone unnoticed. With workshops addressing topics such as “Careers for Liberal Arts Majors” (taking place Oct. 18 and 19), “Attitudes for Academic Success” (Sept. 20 and 21), and “Competitive Summer Job and Internship Preparation” (Nov. 15 and 16), the series is designed to give students at nearly all points in their studies a means of improving their ability to navigate college.
Ultimately, the organizers of the event are hoping to increase student success as well as student retention rates.
Freshman student Jordyn Roberts, currently a psychology major, said, “ISU has done a great job providing tools to prepare students for graduation. They have made sure I know where I can find that information.”
Roberts went on to note that the Harvest Your Potential series sounds “informative.” This year marks the first year that Harvest Your Potential will be open to all students, rather than just ISU freshmen.
Michon Vanderpoel, a fifth year English major, said she feels that the seminars “would have been a great tool, both as a freshman and a transfer student.” Beginning as a sociology major and ultimately changing to English, Vanderpoel said she believes that if this series had been available to her when she transferred to ISU as a junior, she would have changed her major sooner and therefore graduated sooner – thereby “saving some denaro.”
Students who attend nine or more events throughout the semester, including a meeting with an adviser as well as a job or career fair, will be invited to a student recognition event at the end of the semester. This event will treat to students to food, as well as give them the chance to win currently unknown prizes. Attendance will be tracked through punch cards available at the Central Academic Advising office and the Career Center, as well as other locations across campus.
The Harvest Your Potential series will continue throughout this semester. All events will be held in Rendezvous suites A, B and C unless otherwise noted. More information on both the events offered and the series itself can be found on the ISU website, or by emailing ude.usinull@ofnivda.
