Confidence is Key!

College students face challenges and need to consider how to take steps towards success.  A recent piece written by Baker discusses the “soft skills,” or grit and determination that students need in order to succeed in college (see http://tinyurl.com/dylpcba).  It, however, goes further than just assisting students with developing these skills.  It’s also about instilling in them the confidence to take that leap and push through.

I worked with a first year in his first semester.  We connected at an advising session and it was clear he had many questions.  As the first in his family to go to college, how to navigate this experience and negotiate all this freedom was clearly a lot to take on.  I offered to help and he accepted.  He listened to advice and made an informed decision about how to organize his time.  As an advisor, it became my responsibility to teach him about strategies to succeed, and also let him know HE was in control.  I could only provide him the opportunity to learn but it was his responsibility to put decisions into action.  I also assured him HE COULD DO IT.  That ability to assert for a student that they are capable is KEY.  You can, you will, and he certainly did.  Heading into finals, he has knocked out several lingering assignments, is ahead of schedule with paper writing and is starting to square away his study schedule for final exams.  It may have helped to discuss strategies but it was more important to assure him that he had the ability to JUST DO IT.

As parents and educators, we must provide students with the freedom to choose and all the necessary information for them to make a decision.  We can serve as external guides to the process, but ultimately must place the decision in their hands.  Empowering them is essential.  Through the process of empowering, students can develop self confidence that affords them the ability to persevere through difficult situations.  Whether they succeed or fail, they know they have made the decision and are capable of doing so again.  In many cases, it can be as simple as instilling that confidence in them to ask for help from available resources, like faculty, advisors, tutors, peers... the list goes on and on.

So go out there… teach students about the freedom they have, the ability they have to make informed choices, and the realities of facing those consequences, whether good or bad.  The growth and learning that occurs through this process will enable them to be more confident.  Ideally, instilling some of this thinking prior to their college career would certainly better support them in their unique transition to higher learning.