Allie Steed
When Allie Steed walked into her academic advisor's office for her routine academic advising session, she entered as a Sophomore on the boarders of Baylor’s Nursing program, caught in a standstill due to a tangle of miscommunication and complications with her major.
"I come from a family of people in the medical field. I’ve also been an EMT since high-school," Allie explained, "And for as long as I can remember, it's been my dream to be a nurse and eventually work in public health as an administrator. That's why I was so upset when I found out that I might not be able to see that dream become a reality due to complications with my major requirements. Up until my appointment that day, I had exhausted every option I could think of to get myself back on track in the Nursing program. Nothing seemed to be working."
As Allie began her appointment, her advisor immediately noticed her distress. According to Allie, her advisor was calm and responded by immediately adapting to the situation at hand. The advisor said, "Alright. Let’s shift the focus today from academic advising to helping you de-stress!"
After making that statement, Allie's advisor, through active and attentive listening, helped Allie reevaluate her goals and come up with an alternative path to reach them. Allie said, "My advisor helped me see that I had wanted to become a nurse to eventually become an administrator. By exploring different possibilities together, I realized that there were different and faster ways to accomplish that goal. My conversation with her shifted everything; she helped guide me towards a path that I was more excited about than before."
Before their appointment ended, Allie's advisor connected her with the director of a different department who could help her determine her next steps.
"When I left her office that day, I felt like I could breath again" Allie admitted, "I hadn't been that excited about school in a long time because I now know exactly what I am working towards."
To students who have yet to be advised, Allie said, "It's important to walk in with a mindset of responsibility. Do your part and take ownership of your major and degree plan. Even if you don’t know what you’re looking for exactly, keep asking questions and follow through on the work that you need to do yourself. And if you get stuck, ask your advisor for help. Even if they don’t know the answer, they might point you to someone who does."