- Hello everybody.
We're so glad you're here to join us
for the First-Generation
college student life session
here at Seattle university.
My name is Gretchenrae Campera,
and I'm the Assistant Director
for Student Success and Outreach.
And I'm joined here today
with a couple of other folks.
And so I'm gonna have
them introduce themselves.
- Hi everyone, it's really
great to be here with you today.
My name is Yvette Gutierrez-Morfin.
I'm the Student Persistence
Specialist here at Seattle U.
I'll talk a little bit more
about what that means later on.
I also identify as a
First-Generation student,
so I'm even more excited to
be part of this presentation
and to welcome you to Seattle university.
- Hi everyone, my name is Shirley Wang.
I am also a First-Gen.
As of fall 2020, I am a
second year nursing major.
I currently work in the Outreach Center
as an Outreach Center.
So supporting First-Gen
students that come by our space.
- So I know that some of you
may have submitted questions
prior to joining us for today's session.
A lot of those questions are
gonna get answered today.
And I know that a few of you are curious
about the specific student experience.
And so Shirley will be sharing
that with us today too.
And I forgot to mention
at the very beginning
that I'm also First-Gen.
And so, yeah, very excited
to be welcoming you
to the Seattle U community.
So I'll turn it over to Shirley.
- All right, now that you have gotten
a small snippet of our
First-Gen community,
we wanna hear from you.
So don't have any worries.
We will use the chat function
that will be located on the
bottom of your Zoom screen.
There should be a little chat
bubble that's labeled chat.
If you click that,
there should be a chat pop up on the side,
and that will be where you'll
be typing up your responses.
I also want to note that,
for you to change the message to,
and then there should
be a little hover screen
that says all panelists and attendees,
and we're gonna start by asking
each and every one of you
to type in the chat
three of the following.
One is your name.
The second will be where you call home.
This can be very general.
That could be the state or the country,
if it's outside the U.S.
And the third one would be
a word to describe how you
feel going into college
and a short reason why.
Your one word can be any word
that represents your thoughts, feelings.
An example could be excited or nervous,
and a short reason why,
which could be a few
words or one sentence.
To get a general idea of how
it looks, I can start off.
So my name is Shirley.
Home for me is Southern California.
A word to describe how I
felt entering into college
was nervous and excited.
That is because I was a
little nervous and excited
because I actually never toured Seattle U
or Seattle before committing.
So moving across another
state was new for me.
If any of you have any questions,
feel free to let us know.
I see a couple of people
introducing themselves already.
We'll give you a few
minutes to enter responses.
Awesome, I see a large range
of people from Washington,
California, Hawaii.
That's awesome, Colorado.
That's awesome.
I give a couple more
minutes for those of you
that are still typing.
All right for now we will
move on to the next slide,
but if anyone else would
like to enter in the chat,
we will also be looking at that
and you could type that as we go on.
It's so wonderful
hearing about each of you
and get a general idea
of like where everyone
is coming from and how you feel about,
before you begin your journey at SU.
I see that we had a lot
of students that said
they were coming from
Washington, California, Seattle,
Hawaii, Colorado,
and seeing kind of similar
feelings that I had
when I first came into college, awesome.
All right, so today we're gonna be sharing
some good information with you today.
Some of it might be a little
overwhelming at first glance,
or it might be new that it might take
just a little bit more time
to process or register,
but just know that if
you have any questions
throughout our time together,
please feel free to type them in the chat
and we will answer them.
We will try to address them
as we progress in the slide.
But if you have any questions
that are a bit more general
than what the slide covers,
we will have a few minutes towards the end
when you can also ask away.
I just want to let a reminder
that there will be no silly questions.
So feel free to ask any
questions if you feel uncertain
or unsure about anything.
So I wanna go into some fast facts.
So at SU, we define First-Gen
as students who are one of the first
in their immediate family to receive
a U.S. bachelor's degree.
What that means is that
parents or guardians
who do not have a U.S. bachelor's degree,
qualify as First-Gen and
some First-Gen students
have siblings who have or
haven't gone to college.
So for me, I had an older
sibling who went to college.
But I still qualify as a First-Gen.
Some First-Gen students
have parents or guardians
who have non-U.S. bachelor's degree.
And because of that,
we know that navigating
the U.S. college experience
is a little bit different.
But though these difference might be
a little bit existent in different forms
of just academics or financials.
Each person's experience
is a bit different,
but we think that it brings
unique values and experiences
to our community on campus.
And lastly, a little over 14%
of our U.S. population is First-Gen.
This includes undergraduate,
graduate, and law students.
Next I'll be talking
about the Outreach Center.
So on campus, we have a space
called the Outreach Center.
It is located at the Student
Center 110, the first floor,
just around the corner
behind the hub desk,
where students can check out ARCA cards
for transporting into the city.
Now, what is the Outreach
Center, you may be asking?
It is a place to study, hang out,
kind of be in the community on campus
of meeting new people, hear
about some upcoming events.
Sometimes we might have some
people that just come in
and say hi, or ask a quick question
about where something is.
We share the space and
serve both First-Gen
and Veteran students.
The front desk is staffed by
current undergraduate students.
And that would be our staff
that identify as First-Gen and Veterans.
So what we offer at the Outreach Center
and as a First-Gen community
is a weekly newsletter.
And what that is,
it basically highlights some
upcoming events and news
and information about what's
going on around campus.
Maybe some FAFSA updates or reminders.
Anything that might have to support you
or go on around the community.
We also have complimentary tea and coffee,
and you can have that
while you're studying
or take it to go before heading to class.
We also have something called
a Textbook Lending Library.
It's also known as Text-X.
It's one of the most popular
resources that we have.
And what you're able to do
is request some books for each quarter.
There is no max for how many
books that you can request.
We have a large variety of textbooks
that range from UCOR,
which are more of your
general classes and majors.
We don't have everything,
but we do try to work with the bookstore
to keep our library as
up to date as possible.
Many students might be
trying to find their books
before class, or just
wanna be more prepared.
We also have a link and
that is on the slide.
If you would like to place a little hold
and check out a book.
And if you have any questions,
feel free to comment them in the chat.
- And what Shirley forgot to mention
is that she works as
one of the student staff
in the Outreach Center.
Again, that's why she's here today.
So we're so happy you get the
opportunity to meet Shirley.
So Shirley did a quick
overview of the Outreach Center
and some of our general offerings.
Now we're gonna jump
into some of our First-Gen
specific resources.
One of the things that
I wanted to make sure
you all knew about, as new students,
is that we do have a First-Gen guidebook.
It's basically a how to Seattle U guide
written by First-Gen students
for First-Gen students.
There's advice how to navigate
registering for classes,
things like that.
And so that's available online
to download on our website,
and we'll include links in the chat later,
that you'll be able to
download the guidebook.
Also on our website,
you'll find profiles of
faculty and staff on campus
who also identify as First-Gen.
I know that for me, when
I was a First-Gen student,
it was really hard for me to
find faculty or staff members
who identified similarly to me.
And so we created this webpage
where we can highlight some
of our faculty and staff.
We also knew, as of this year,
we will launch a chapter of Tri-Alpha,
which is a national
First-Gen Honor Society.
And so you do not have to
be a graduating student
to apply and be part of the Honor Society.
So if you know that that's something
that you're really excited about,
I hope that you will join us
and be inducted into the inaugural group
of the Honor Society.
We also do a bunch of
celebrations throughout
the course of the academic year, too.
So I talked about the
faculty and staff profiles.
And the second thing I wanna highlight
is we do have these signs on campus,
but also when you email faculty and staff,
you'll see it at the
bottom of their signature.
And so even if we might not
be physically together on campus,
you'll be able to still
identify people on campus
who are First-Gen.
And so you'll see these
signs around campus,
there's stickers, things like that.
So this is just a way for
our community to be visible.
I'm noticing some questions in the chat.
And so we will include the
Text-X link in the chat
in a little bit.
And I know that somebody asked,
how do you join the Honor Society?
We will have a website go
live and an application.
And so that's not open yet,
but you can anticipate
the application going live
in the fall, once the
academic year starts.
A great way to make sure
that you continue to stay
up to date on information,
as Shirley did mention,
our weekly newsletter.
You all will learn that, hopefully,
maybe you've heard
about ConnectSU already.
And you'll by joining our portal,
the Outreach Center portal on ConnectSU,
you'll be able to get
our weekly newsletters.
So make sure that you
are connecting with us
and we'll give you our contact information
at the very end of the presentation, too.
And there are requirements
for the Honor Society.
I know, there's lots of
questions, we love it!
There are requirements,
GPA requirements for the Honor Society.
Again, I don't know those
immediately off the top of my head
to be able to tell you now,
but we'll be sure to
connect with all of you
who are interested to make
sure that you hear about that.
I know that one of the
questions that came through
prior to this session today
was, "I wanna get connected
to a mentor or another peer
"that's also First-Gen."
And so we do have,
it's called First To Soar and
it's our peer mentor program.
It's a program that
connects first year students
with a junior, senior or graduate student
who's also First-Gen.
And it's somebody that can be your go-to,
somebody that you can connect with,
ask questions and can
kind of journey with you
throughout your first year at Seattle U.
Shirley was also part of First To Soar.
And so, Shirley, I don't know
if you want to pop in here
and say anything about First To Soar?
- Yeah, I was a mentee and I
was paired up with a mentor
during my first year,
so this current year that just finished.
And it was really helpful
because it was like
another resource that I had
being able to email or text my mentor
and ask some questions that I had,
especially being like a nursing major
and kind of having some
lingering questions
I wasn't really sure about
when I first started out.
But having a mentor is just
any sort of way that you can
stay connected and updated
and find some informations or
answer any lingering questions
that you might be curious about,
whether it could be
regarding scholarships,
some general questions
about major classes,
which teachers to pick,
what SU kind of looks like,
what academics kind of looks like,
what steps I should take as a student,
how I should study better.
Just another person that is there for you
and is kind of along
your journey as well, so.
I would recommend having and
signing up for this program,
even though you might think
you might not need it.
It's also nice to just
have it there just in case,
because even though I
wasn't contacting my mentor
all the time, I sometimes reached out
just for like one or two questions,
just in case I needed it for any time.
- Thanks, Shirley.
So I did put in the Textbook
Lending Library link
also in the chat.
And I also put in the link to apply
to be assigned a mentor
for our First-Gen peer mentoring program.
And I did just get a question
about the presentation getting sent.
Yes, you will get this presentation.
It will be available to
download on the same website
that you RSVP'd on.
And so you'll get that and
any handouts we might have.
And so we'll definitely include things
about the Honor Society, about
the Textbook Lending Library,
about the mentor program.
So don't feel like you need
to remember all of this right now.
I know that, as Shirley said,
we're giving you a lot of
good information today.
And I know it can be a
lot to kind of keep up.
And so, don't worry.
Part of it is just letting you know
that these resources are here for you,
and that the three of us are here for you
as you start your SU journey.
And so don't feel like
you have to type furiously,
scribble furiously.
We will get all of the materials to you.
And then the other First-Gen initiative
I wanted to share with you is Imprint.
Some of the questions that we got
prior to the session was just
about just being First-Gen
and, you know, one of the questions we got
was "How do you navigate
the First-Gen experience,
"when nobody in your family
has gone to college?"
And that's hard.
And sometimes it can feel
like a little lonely.
And so we created this publication
that we release every year,
that First-Gen students,
staff, faculty, and alumni
can contribute their narratives,
about what it means to be First-Gen,
what they're really proud of,
what times that were really
hard, big accomplishments.
And so this is also available
online for you to read.
We just released our
third edition in June.
And so I hope that you'll
download that and take a read.
I will say that one of
our presenters today
has also written for the publication.
And so just a cool way to,
if you don't know the words or you're shy
to talk to somebody about it,
Imprint can be a great first place
to feel connected to community.
And again, that link
is on the bottom here.
- Spoiler alert, it was
me that wrote for Imprint.
I was the panelist.
It was definitely a very
rewarding experience.
So again, I just really
encourage all of you
to check it out,
and get to kind of know the stories
of the different First-Gen
students we have at Seattle U.
So like I mentioned at the start,
my name is Yvette Gutierrez.
I'm the Student Persistence
Specialist at Seattle U.
And basically my role on campus
is to help you in whatever way you need
to be academically successful.
So kind of in a nutshell,
the way I talk about it is,
if there's ever an obstacle
or anything that comes up and
you don't know where to go
or who to ask or what to do about it,
you can always come to me.
And it's my job to kind
of help you figure out
how to navigate that challenge.
Some of the things that
that kind of looks like
is if you ever run into
registration issues or challenges,
this could be anything from like,
you have a hold on your account
and you don't know how to lift it,
or you're not quite sure how
to find your registration time.
You can always come to me.
You might get an email
from me if there's a hold.
I remember one of the things
that was really difficult
for me, when I first went to college
as a First-Gen student, is
just not kind of knowing
the way the systems worked
around registration.
So my role really is to
help make that smoother
and easier for everyone.
I also help with connection
to academic support services.
So whether that's referrals to tutoring,
learning assistance programs,
or helping you navigate Tutortrac,
or connect with, or find office
hours for your professors,
we want you to be able to
access all the resources
that SU has available,
and that you're already
paying for, really.
So we want you to be able
to take advantage of those.
I can also help with navigating
the classroom environment.
Again, whether that's challenges
you may be experiencing
in the classroom,
if there's ever an incident
that you feel needs to be addressed,
and you're not quite sure
how to go about that,
you can definitely come to me.
And then I also work really closely
with the Outreach Center.
I'm in there once a month for
Scholarship Drop-In Hours.
That's one of the biggest
things I do in my role
is work around scholarships.
So if you ever have any
questions about the scholarships,
you can always reach out to me one-on-one
or come see me in the Outreach Center.
One of the big things
that comes with being a First-Gen student
is just knowing that you
belong here at Seattle U,
and that at the start, especially,
it may feel overwhelming
and you might feel lost
and that's okay.
I know I definitely felt lost
when I first got to college.
Well, we really want you to remember
that you have all of
the strengths you need,
all of the skills you need to
be successful at Seattle U.
It's just a matter of kind of learning
how to apply them into this new context.
Kind of to give some examples,
you may have had a paper or an exam
that didn't turn out the way
you wanted in high school,
but instead of giving up, you
met with a teacher or a tutor,
or you watched YouTube clips
of how to do certain math problems, right?
Like you're resourceful
and you figured out different
ways to learn the material.
You might've formed relationships
with teachers and counselors,
because you saw that role modeled for you
in your personal life,
so you know the importance
of forming relationships
and leaning on your community,
and what that means for
your success in education.
You may also have been
navigating adult systems
through your entire life,
whether that's translating
for your parents
or your other family members,
as they're trying to make
appointments or something.
I'm definitely projecting a little bit,
or even just the fact that you navigated
the college application process.
You navigated filling
out the FAFSA, right?
You guys have already experienced this
and been successful at it.
And so you have all of these strengths
that you're bringing to campus with you,
and actually, Shirley,
it would be really
great if you could share
maybe something from your experience,
like what is a strength
that you brought with you
when you came to Seattle U?
- When I came to Seattle.
So I would kind of say
that I'm more of an introverted extrovert,
but in high school I did
a lot of leadership roles.
And I think that helped a
lot when I came to college,
also having that identity as a First-Gen
was also kind of a strength,
because having been talking to my parents
and helping other people,
supporting them through
their roles as a student,
and kind of being a mentor for them,
kind of coming into college,
bringing that into play
and kind of contributing
what I had as a strength.
As my first year of college
came, it was kind of difficult.
Day by day, I found something
new, like all the time.
I didn't have parents who
shared college experiences
or stories with me.
I didn't really know what
it meant dorming on campus,
living on campus.
How would I navigate my first year?
My decision at SU from
academics, financials sectors
to moving away from home.
It was all kind of challenging at first.
And I didn't really understand
what all that meant,
but I guess to sum it up,
what I really enjoyed and like found
was that I had goals that
I had from high school,
and learning all the things
that I had as a person,
made me feel more
empowered and strengthened
as I came to the Outreach Center
and took a more different perspective
and took out those strengths
and kind of became more
vocal and communicative
with what I wanted to accomplish at SU.
So I'd say being more
communicative and vocal
about what I had made it a
little bit more memorable.
But I also wanna note for students that,
at the end of the day, to
take away and remember,
is that even though you
might face these challenges
and feel that you are alone,
you're embarking this journey
and bringing so many
different unique experiences
and aspects as you start in the fall,
even though I am still learning,
and I'm still trying to grow as a person,
you might not completely understand
what being a First-Gen might be
or how you can transition into college.
And that is totally okay.
We are here for you, because
we know that taking risks
and stepping outside your comfort zone
and doing things that
those in your family
might not have even done,
is definitely worth noting.
Even as a Outreach Center advisor,
some experiences that I
encountered with students,
could be as simple as just finding
some volunteer experiences
and someone to talk to,
and just build up on
that similar experience
that we had when we
first came into college.
- Thanks, Shirley.
I think you've hit exactly
what I wanted to emphasize.
Again, you belong here.
We're all here to help
you be successful at SU.
But you, again, have all
the strengths you need,
even if at the beginning
you might feel lost.
That's completely okay.
Lots of people are feeling the same way.
Again, I just really encourage you
to reach out and find that community,
but you're definitely not alone.
- So if you are thinking
about what does it mean to be First-Gen?
I don't really, you
know, and asking yourself
and thinking, "I don't really know."
And you know, Yvette and Shirley
both talked about strengths,
and if you're asking
yourself, "Well, I don't know.
"I don't know what my strengths are.
"And a lot of this feels unknown."
I think the First-Gen
Learning Community Seminar
is a great place to start.
We did talk about the First
To Soar peer mentor program.
That's a year long commitment.
If you feel like you
can't do that right now,
or just a peer mentoring
program is not for you,
we have this Learning Community Seminar.
It's four weeks,
at the end of four weeks,
you receive a certificate.
It's a great addition to your resume.
And it's a cohort-based seminar
that allows you to build connections
with other First-Gen students.
And also have you think
about, "What are my strengths?
"How does my life experience
up until this point,
"set me up for success in college?"
And so really having you think
about how do you leverage
what you already have
so that you feel successful.
I included a couple of quotes here
from people who've completed the seminar.
And so I wanted to highlight them here.
"I never thought of
First-Gen as a strength
"before this program.
"And I think it will serve
in my educational journey
"at SU and beyond."
And somebody said it made
them feel like they belong.
So four weeks, you can find
more information and RSVP,
I'll include the link in the chat,
but it is also on this slide here.
This is the second year
we will be launching
this Learning Community Seminar.
And so I hope that you'll join us.
So that is our content
for today, this afternoon.
I did include our email address.
So you can reach us at
outreachcenter@seattleu.edu.
And you can, I know I
mentioned our website
to make sure that you get
the First-Gen guide book
and that's seattleu.edu/outreachcenter.
Hopefully that's easy to remember.
We are very active on social media.
And so I hope that you will
pull out your phones right now
and follow us.
We will remind you about
FAFSA, WEFSA deadlines.
We will tell you when Yvette's
coming to the Outreach Center
for Scholarship Drop-In Hours.
We will highlight members
of our First-Gen community.
So if you're on either of those platforms,
I hope you'll join us and then
ConnectSU also has an app,
it's called Corq, and you
see the image right there
on the slide.
And that will,
if you follow the Outreach
Center on ConnectSU,
you'll know what events we have coming up.
Whether we are in person
or virtual come the fall,
there will be lots of virtual
opportunities to connect to.
I know a lot of the things
we talked about feel like,
"Oh, is this only happening in person?"
We will still be doing a lot virtually.
In the spring when we were virtual,
we did Instagram lives
and we did cook with me's,
and things like that.
And so hosted study times,
so people could still be in community.
And so no matter kind of what
format we are come the fall,
you'll still be able to
stay connected to us.
So I'll ask now if Yvette and Shirley
can come back and join me,
and we invite you to ask any questions
that you might have,
either in the Q and A,
I know a couple of you used
the Q and A, or in the chat.
We're happy to answer them.
I know Yvette put this in the chat,
but I'll say it for everybody.
And Yvette has done
Scholarship Drop-In Hours,
but if you can't make those,
and you want to chat with Yvette,
you can set up an appointment with her.
- Yeah, and I'll include the link
to the student persistence page,
where you can make an appointment with me,
if you wanna talk about
scholarships, anytime.
- So somebody asked about jobs on campus.
Yes, there is.
So whether you have work-study
or not, there are jobs.
And not all jobs require work-study.
And Yvette and Shirley, Shirley do you?
Yeah, I'm like, do you work on campus?
Yeah, you work on campus.
- Yeah, I can go ahead and-
- Yeah, do you wanna answer that?
- Yeah! (laughs)
So the question that was,
"I don't know if you guys
can give some insight
"on some of the jobs one can do
"if they are on work-study hours?"
SU actually has a website.
I think it's called Handshake.
And you can make a profile
and kind of like configure
all the settings,
and set up your account.
And that kind of can be a set point
of how you start finding jobs.
And when you log on there,
there should be a little, I think, link
where you can opt for
Seattle U on campus jobs.
And over the course of the school year,
there'll be more jobs
that would get updated.
I know in the beginning,
there might not be a lot,
or there might be a couple,
I would have you apply
as soon as possible.
Any ones that you see that
fit kind of your schedule,
or fit your criteria for
like what you're looking for.
Some don't list that they're on campus,
and those won't be with SU,
but there might be some
that aren't work-study
and that's okay too.
It kind of depends on
where you're applying for
and what you're applying for.
Some will say they are
work-study and some won't say.
But I would say keep updated
throughout the course of the year.
So I think right now would be a good time
to start creating a profile,
and looking at what jobs are available,
because there are a lot
of new open positions
for the school year.
If you are able to get some,
it might be a little bit difficult.
I would say keep updated
throughout the months.
So maybe towards fall, see what is open.
And if you can't get those,
keep checking for the next quarter.
So winter quarter and
spring quarter, and so on.
From experience, finding a job on campus
was a little bit tricky.
Persistence does help.
Just knowing that there will be openings,
depending on like the
supply and the demand
for each month kind of varies.
So keep checking which ones are available
and apply for those as soon as possible.
Some might be asking
for you to do a resume,
or some might be asking
for a little letter
saying how you would be
best fit for this job.
I'd say take your time doing those
and make sure you fine-tune
where you need it to be possible.
If you do need help, we are
also available to help you.
And once you get onto campus,
there's also a resource on campus
where they could check your
resumes and that as well.
So once you get started,
you kind of get it going.
I think Yvette also linked
the Handshake in the chat.
So if you click that,
that is kind of where you can get started.
- I'll just make another plug too,
because somebody asked how
they can connect with somebody,
based on career path or educational goal.
And the Career Engagement Office
is a great place to start with.
They don't just do resume
and cover letter review,
or just help you find a job,
but they will connect you with,
even if you don't know your career path.
So for some of you are
just curious, undeclared,
their offices is great
at helping you set up,
they call them informational interviews,
with people that you might
be interested in their job.
So the Career Engagement Office
is a great place to start.
- Also kind of adding onto what was said
is that if you do have
like a declared major
that you have right now,
for example, your engineering,
or your math or nursing,
in the beginning of the school year,
you do get emails from your advisor
and you might have some set appointments
of how to schedule in
that kind of setting.
You will get emails and
updates from your advisors,
and that will be a set time
you can schedule with them,
and talk with them one-on-one
to kind of fit your schedules
for the next quarter,
or talk about your educational goals,
or what you wanna accomplish,
and have classes that
fit along those pathways.
Or if you wanna study
abroad, that kind of idea.
They're really flexible
and talk to you one-on-one
based on what experiences you have
and what you wanna look forward to.
So that is also an option.
- I'm seeing a question
in the Q and A box,
it's "When is the last day to
register for fall quarter?"
So you can register up until
the end of the fifth day,
after the start of classes.
Unfortunately with the
shifting of the calendar,
I don't know the exact date of
that off the top of my head,
but I definitely encourage you
to register as soon as possible,
after your registration time comes open.
You can reach out to your advisor as well
if you're not quite sure when that is,
just because classes do fill up.
So we wanna make sure that you
have the best chance possible
to get the first choice
that you want for classes.
So yeah, you have until the
fifth day after classes start.
But highly encourage you to
try to register before that.
- As folks think about
if they have any other
lingering questions,
Shirley, do you have
any advice for students?
If you had to say, do
these two or three things
or as you start at Seattle U,
what would those things be?
- That is a tough question.
I kinda touched base on it earlier,
but being communicative,
whether it might be asking for help,
or just asking a quick question,
knowing who to reach out for,
just reaching out for anyone,
whether it could be a
resident assistant on campus
if you're living on campus
on who can support you,
or asking one of us or
asking another student,
a teacher, a faculty, that kind of idea.
Reaching out for help
is definitely something
that will help you in the long run,
especially if you're
struggling in classes,
being vocal about what you need
and how they can help is
a good starting point.
I would say take things day
by day, one step at a time.
'Cause at first, things might seem
like a big handful and it's a lot of load
that you might carry into college.
Like, "Oh my gosh, I need to pack my dorm.
"Oh my gosh, I need to get to classes,
"I need to get my textbook,
"this is everything that I need to do."
But just know that, take it one step
and one piece at a time,
because you'll get to
where you want in the end,
as long as you put your mind, your heart
and your goals to it.
So do it in increments
and do as much as you can,
as much as possible, but also
don't overwhelm yourself.
And that leads into my
next point of self care.
That can go into so
many different pathways
of doing sports, if you want
to relax for a couple of days,
maybe just taking a break from studies,
chatting with a few
friends, grabbing coffee,
whatever that looks like.
'Cause even though you're
going in for academics
and doing all this for yourself
and for your goals in the future,
knowing to take time for yourself
and taking care of yourself,
and knowing when to say, you know,
"I need a break here and there,"
is also really helpful as well.
And it also helps with
preventing burned-out
and feeling a little
discouraged from where you are.
'Cause at first everything
is really overwhelming,
but it will work out all in
the end is what I would say.
- Hey, Shirley, for on
the fly, that was great.
So thank you.
One of the questions we got was
"Will classes be online
for fall or on campus?"
And as COVID-19 circumstances
evolve, we'll find out.
So there's no firm answer right now.
And that also goes for the
Outreach Center as a space,
is that, you know, we don't know yet.
And so, an announcement will go out,
but right now I think, you know,
we're responding as our state responds
and as circumstances grow and change.
So I know it's really hard
to kind of be in the in-between right now.
And that's why we're ready
for whatever decision happens
to respond and be there,
when you're trying to figure out
how to adapt and what to do.
And so, be patient,
we're also being patient.
But right now there's no firm answer.
- And just really quickly,
regardless of whether we open or not,
or we're in-person or not in the fall.
I just wanna remind you again
that we're still here for you,
either in person or virtually.
We know that there's unique challenges
to learning through a virtual space,
but you all already kind
of already did that.
You all finished high
school, most likely online.
So again, think about what worked then
and how can you take those
skills and apply them now.
But like Shirley said,
communication is gonna be super key,
especially if we are doing
classes virtually in the fall.
So please, please reach out.
Like even before anything comes up.
- One of the questions in the chat
is "What is your advice for us
"to prepare before school starts?"
Shirley, I know you got a
chance to kind of give advice.
Is there anything you want to add
or do you feel like those were the things,
if you do anything, it's that?
- I think it kinda has many pathways
on what you can take this.
Academically, to prepare
before school begins
is find what works for you.
So like your learning style,
finding out what will work for you.
I think for me in the beginning,
the first couple of weeks
when school started,
I was figuring out how I could learn best,
because each professor
teaches differently.
Their style's a little bit different.
Your learning style will
also change in college
is what I figured out,
but trying to be more open and understand
the different approaches
that you can take.
When it comes to, I
think, dorming on campus,
making sure you have everything prepared
kind of in hand with academics as well,
and dorming, preparing for dorming.
When you move in is that you should be,
maybe make a checklist
or jot down some things
that you have, and having like a schedule
for what you need to get ready,
or a schedule for what
you need to prepare for,
for an exam or something like that.
I personally have a little journal
with my calendars and everything,
where I can note where some
deadlines are taking place,
and what special days I need to have down
or like important events that I have,
so that I don't forget them.
And I set little reminders as well.
So that would be really helpful.
- Yvette, do you have any advice?
- I've got two things.
The first is to keep
reading through this summer.
I know I'm not gonna lie and
say that I took my own advice
when I was moving from
high school to college,
but I really wish I had.
It's amazing how much your skills can dull
over a summer, if you are like, you know,
"It's my last summer as a kid."
So, which, you know, definitely
take advantage of that,
but keep reading.
The other piece of advice is,
I'm not sure what it'll
look like this year,
but sign up for tutoring
through Tutoring Blitz.
Even if you think you won't need it.
Learning Assistance Programs puts on
what's called Tutoring Blitz
where students can sign up
for appointments with tutors.
I think it's in the second
week of the quarter.
So this is a little
bit after school opens,
but again, tutoring is for all students.
It's not just students
who might be struggling.
It's also for students who
like are getting A minuses,
but they really want an
A this quarter, right?
And it's always easier
to get an appointment
at the start of the quarter,
before there's an issue,
than in the middle of the quarter
when you need help like right now.
So I definitely recommend
signing up for tutoring
as soon as possible.
- Yes, Yvette, you touched base
on something really important
that I forgot to mention.
We do have tutoring
often, excuse me, sorry,
that I think are really helpful
when I first started out.
I wasn't so sure whether or
not I should do tutoring,
just 'cause as a person,
the learning style was a
little bit different for me,
but if you're kind of hesitant or unsure,
but you just wanna be extra prepared,
it's a good way to keep on the side.
I did use it later on
during my winter quarter,
just for like reviews
and that kind of thing.
But if you do feel like
you don't want to continue
with tutoring, you don't have to,
you're not like binded by it.
But it's a good resource
in case you feel like it is necessary,
like you need a clarifying
question on a certain topic
or something like that,
because the spots do fill up quickly.
- So somebody asks advice
for transfer students
or nontraditional students.
And so I know that Yvette
and Shirley offered advice.
And I think a lot of that is applicable
to transfer and non
traditional students too.
So what worked for you,
prior to coming to Seattle U,
if that worked for you academically,
then try that.
And if it doesn't work,
be flexible to adapt.
I'll also say that there
are a really good number
of transfer students,
who are also First-Gen.
So I just wanna put that out there
in case there are any questions about,
"Oh, are the majority
of First-Gen students
"the first time in college
and first year students?"
There are a good number
of transfer students
that are also First-Gen,
and that's their pathway
to a bachelor's degree.
So I just wanna put that out there, too.
I'll throw this teaser out
and then I'm gonna put a plug,
is that community college is different
than a four year university.
If you wanna know more about that,
come see Yvette and I on Thursday at five,
if you haven't RSVP'd yet,
and you're a transfer student,
for the Transfer Student
Life Session at Seattle U.
We're gonna talk a little bit more
about how to make that transition.
And so, and I think honestly,
both of these sessions
really complement each other.
So that's my plug and that's my teaser
for you to join us on Thursday.
And also, I will say too,
all the resources are
also available to you.
Sometimes I find that
upper-class transfer students
think that, "Oh, is
that only for first time
"in college students or the students
"who've been here all four years?"
No, use the Writing Center, get a tutor,
use the Career Engagement
Office, and you're paying for it.
So maximize that.
Now that you've chosen to
finish your degree here
with us at Seattle U.
- I think also with that question,
there was maybe tips or advice
for people who don't live in Seattle.
I'm from California.
So coming to Seattle,
not having been exposed
or been to Seattle,
kind of getting a feel of how Seattle is,
what the weather is like,
also preparing for that.
Maybe have a wrinkle or
something that's waterproof
would be helpful, too. (laughs)
I actually did not have
a waterproof jacket,
which I kind of regretted when
I first came to the college,
but it's okay, you manage.
It doesn't rain as much as people think,
maybe a slight drizzles, but
it's honestly not too bad.
And I think the weather is pretty awesome.
It's not too hot, it's not too cold,
which I personally really prefer.
But you'll really enjoy
the time that you're here.
And just being on campus within the city
while having its own little isolated area
is also really nice,
because you get that
quiet and reserved setting
while also being able to explore
and see all that's around you as well.
- Someone asked "Group tutoring
"or individual that you suggest?"
Both, and also just to figure out
what works for you and what doesn't.
Group is for some people,
individual is for others,
people like accommodation.
So don't close any of your options off.
I think, try everything at least once,
maybe twice, to see if
it really works for you.
And if it doesn't, then
try something else.
Yeah.
- And you might also find
that for certain classes,
group tutoring works,
and then for other classes,
individual tutoring might work better.
Like for example, if you're
in a foreign language, right,
it might be helpful to be in a group
to practice speaking with other students.
Whereas for me personally,
if I was in a math class,
I would be more about individual tutoring.
So again, it just depends
on your own personal learning style,
but also that might shift,
depending on which
classes you're interested
in seeking tutoring for.
- I think there's a
question in the Q and A.
Someone is asking
"How safe is Seattle U
and its surrounding?"
I would say it's relatively pretty safe.
We also have public safety that
goes around campus as well.
And all the residence halls,
they have a lock and kind of swipe card,
where you put in your
card and you can go in.
So all the dorms do that.
And then the elevators
also have the swiping.
Some buildings on campus
also have the swiping too.
So you can't get in without your ID card.
Walking around campus
isn't too bad as well
because it's not actually in the city.
It's more on the side, but more of,
it's a combination of both,
where you get both the city
and also its own university
campus in a sense.
So I would say it's
relatively pretty safe.
- And if you decide to live off campus,
our public safety office also offers a
it's called the Nighthawk,
but it's a evening shuttle
that'll drop you off
within a two mile radius
of campus and two key locations.
So the two, we have the
light rail in Seattle,
which is our kind of like a subway system
for those of you who,
I know that there's folks
from out of state here,
so we'll drop you off at the light rail.
They'll drop you off,
there's a couple of
grocery stores in the area.
They'll drop you off at the grocery store
and come pick you up, and that's a,
you can text or call
for the Nighthawk too.
So I'll add that.
Well, it looks like,
I wanna be mindful of time,
and it looks like
questions have slowed down.
If you have more questions,
'cause we know that you
are attending more sessions
and preparing for the academic year,
and it's coming so soon, it feels so soon.
If you haven't yet,
take note of our email,
outreachcenter@seattleu.edu,
so we can respond with you.
If you don't know where to go,
you're like, "I have a question,
"it's not related to the
Outreach Center at all."
I see Shirley shaking her, saying, yup.
If you don't know where
to go, start with us,
we don't mind saying, "We don't do that,
"but we can connect you with,
"do you know who your advisor is?
"Do we need to connect
you to here, here, here,
"somebody in student financial services?"
And we can help you kind of
navigate all of that too.
So I want you to think of us
as your kind of go-to people,
your team, your community here,
as you start your Seattle U journey.
So please take note of our email address.
And again, I'm gonna
plug our social media,
so that if you are active on social media,
that is a great way to
stay connected to us.
And if you are not on ConnectSU yet,
once you get there and
they introduce you to that,
whether that's in your
orientation, small groups,
or in another session,
when they talk about ConnectSU,
I hope that the first portal that you join
is the Outreach Center,
so that you can get our weekly newsletter
and stay connected to us.
So thank you all so much,
and have a great rest of your evening.
