My second year as a university
student was probably one of the most stressful moment in my lifetime. After
completing a year’s worth of classes, I decided to transfer to a different university
located out-of-state. While it was a very exciting opportunity, it was also nerve-racking.
It was my first time living on my own, and I was surrounded by strangers. The
university itself was much more challenging than my last. The stress eventually
reached its peak at the end of my first semester: where I received very poor
grades in all of my classes (and failed two of them).
Receiving poor grades was a very
shocking experience since I usually do well in class. Due to the poor grades,
it also gave me the mentality that I would not be able to graduate from the
university. When the semester ended, I decided to travel back home to see my
family during the winter break. Although it was exciting to see them again, I
was also expecting a stern talk about my grades. Instead, I received the
complete opposite. My family in fact was very supportive and understood the
situation I was going through. They often praised me, telling me that they were
proud of my effort.
Despite my family’s support, I
reverted back the way I was when coming back to campus. This time, I felt some
embarrassment by the fact that I had to retake two of the classes I failed in
the previous semester. When I came to the classes I failed, I was surprised to
see a number of students from my previous class. What was interesting was they
all told me to sit by them, and we shared our experiences from the previous
class. Over time, the group and I got a long really well, and I felt less
stressed and lonely. At the end of the second semester, I was able to
successfully pass both courses, and received much higher grades: which helped
me boost confidence about graduating from the university.
Whetten and Cameron identified a
few dimensions and prescriptions for empowerment that were also present during
my past experience. To regain my overall confidence, a few of my classmates
invited me and formed a group. We exchanged information and shared our past
experiences from the previous class. While working together helped boost our
skills and knowledge, it was also a very social environment: which comforted me
and made me feel less lonely. Socializing with the group also made me recall
that I’m not the only student, and that many others go through similar
situations as I do.
Although it’s rare to come across
students in distress, I plan to empower students with emotional support and
advisement from my student perspective. In the past, I’ve came across students
dealing with similar situations I had when pursuing my bachelor’s degree. Just
how the group treated me, I plan to share parts of my experience. This would be
Whetten and Cameron’s modeling strategy, where we inspire someone from someone
else’s success (2016).
References:
Whetten, D. A. & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing
management skills, 9th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.
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