I know when I was going into my first year at LC, I did not want to worr about what I would be doing right after college, I just wanted to enjoy knowing that I would be at LC for the next 4 years. Now that I'm a senior I'm spending a lot of time thinking through what I'm foing after I graduate. As I've been working towards graduation, I've been really grateful to have lot's of supportive advisors and resources during this transitions. So I wanted to share what this experience has been like for me.
My original plan was to study abroad for a full year, but because of the pandemic, I have decided to graduate a year early, and move on to the University of New Mexico for Law School and a Masters of Public Policy. Since this has been a major change in my academic plan, I have gotten lot's of help to make it work. Here are some of the best resouces that have been helpful in my transition to grad school:
The College Advising Center
The CAC is one of the best resources LC has to offer. This office has a staff dedicated full time to helping students create academic plans to accomplish everything they want to accomplish in 4 years. Even before I needed help creating my plan to graduate early, the CAC was extremeley helpful to me. As a first year, you get paired with an advisor who starts communicating with you the summer before you arrive at LC, and they work with you to get any placement testing or transfer credit figured out. Now, as a senior, they are helping me plan out how to fulfill all my credits in less time than I orginally planned. My advisor, Katie, has always been responsive and clear, and most importantly good at reassuring me I'm doing things correctly.
The Registrar
The registrar is another very important office that you will work with, especially if you take any transfer classes outside of LC. I'm taking 2 summer classes to finish up my requiremnts, so I've worked a lot with my registrar contact, Tiffany, to make sure that those will transfer correctly. I have sent a lot of emails with a lot of detailed questions, and I have always gotten quick and helpful answers. At times it has been stressfull making sure I can get all of the technical detailes and all the boxes checked, but the registrar has been there at every step of the way to answer my questions.
My Proffessors and Major Advisors
I love my proffesors, and they have been fantastic mentorsin this whole process. When I was first contemplating graduating early and I wasn't really sure what my option were or what would be a good idea for me, my proffesors were a huge help to me. All I had to do was send some quick emails and ask for a meeting to talk and I had an appointment within a day. One of my favorite proffessors, Ellen, was really helpful at just giving me advice about whether I should graduate early and what that might mean for my educational experience and my career options. It was really helpful to hear different perspectives and different advice on what I could choose to do. My two major advisors have also been super supportive and helpful to me. I've just been reminded over and over how much I enjoy my proffesors.
Overall there have been so many helpful mentors and guides throughout this whole process, I don't know what I would do if I had to navigagte this process without such great people I could turn to for help and advice.
If you want to know more about anything Lewis & Clark related, email me at quentingaul@lclark.edu