Caring Connections Drive Student Success

The Washington Post recently told the story of a young man, nearly having lost his chance at college due to human error on paperwork, who was driven three hours to school by the vice president of student affairs himself after the error was corrected. The title of the piece says it all: The key to college success? People have to care about you. 

Many students, despite best intentions by schools and programs, fall through what the article describes as "thoughtfully constructed safety nets." The most wonderful resources cannot help if students don't know they are there and are not connected to them. One nontraditional student is quoted as saying that the difference is "meaningful human contact." 

Enter academic coaching. The coach has a golden opportunity to introduce the student to any and all resources that may be waiting for them at the institution, building student knowledge of such resources as well as willingness to give them a try. When a coach establishes a nonjudgmental, respectful space that builds trust, a vulnerable student is more likely to step over those ubiquitous cracks to get support, rather than falling through them. 

Build a caring connection with questions like these, and help students locate resource offices and websites if they need that information:

• What kind of support do you need right now?

• How can you find out more about resources at the school? 

• Who do you know who has gotten some help from a school organization, and how did they benefit?

• What do you think you shouldn't need help with, but you do?

• How might you get support from someone here who cares about you?

Expand the ways you are able to care with training from LifeBound.

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