Advising and supporting are critical competencies needed by student affairs practitioners. In order to successfully guide students through their academic and co-curricular activities, higher education administrators must provide direction and have the institutional knowledge to share a range of resources with students.

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     In many ways, advising and supporting can be connected to counseling. When students come to a student affairs professional for guidance or help, the basic tenants of counseling including exploration, insight, and action, can be employed to bring a student through the issue they may be facing. In my work as an advisor to the student government and a team of orientation leaders, I have had the opportunity to put to use the counseling skills I have developed and have built meaningful relationships with students as a byproduct.

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     As an advisor to the orientation team at Framingham State University, my role as it was written was to train the orientation leaders to support and advise incoming students. I also helped them stay organized and keep in touch with the registrar and faculty members.

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     Outside of the formal requisites of my orientation assistantship, I offered my help as a mentor and advisor to the orientation leaders should they need help with academics or applying to other jobs as several of the students were seniors and looking for work. Several students took me up on my offer and called me to talk about cover letters, applying to graduate school, and interview techniques. The week after my position ended at Framingham, a student called me to let me know that after all of the preparation I helped her with while she applied for campus jobs, she had secured the position she was excited about and would start working that semester.

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     Knowledge I gained in my graduate courses including the history of student affairs work, an understanding of the college student’s experience, and the fundamentals of counseling techniques, have informed my work with students. Additional courses covering organization and governance of higher education and a law and policy class will improve my work at a  professional and institutional level, but the knowledge I gained while serving as an advisor to students has helped me better understand the role of a student affairs practitioner and the needs of students.