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Keeping Students’ Momentum Going into Next Semester

6 years 3 months 5 days ago Thursday, December 21 2017 Dec 21, 2017 December 21, 2017 5:46 PM December 21, 2017 in Community - Education Beat

MCALLEN – A local college is working to keep students engaged going into the next semester.

Nearly a month-long break before a new semester is a part of the perks of having a college life.

That gap can be tricky though, according to South Texas College President Shirley Reed.

She says once a student completes their first semester in college, they need to buckle down their second one.

“The next goal is to get registered for your second semester, because it's too easy to say I want to take a break, I'm gonna work awhile and I'll come back to college. Students who do that rarely make it back to college,” said Reed.

Matthew Hebbard, vice president of student affairs and enrollment management, says reality doesn’t sometimes meet first-time college students’ expectations until they’re a few weeks into the first semester.

“They start to realize, ‘oh okay, there’s a lot of assignments I need to do,’ life situations occur. Maybe they have to work more, but never lose that heart and that passion and that focus on why you came here in the first place,” he said.

Keeping that drive takes a team and a support system, students included.

“It’s our commitment to the student to complete, to graduate. Whether it’s a certificate, whether it’s an associate, transferring out to the university finishing out their bachelor’s degree. It’s that commitment to that student to understand the resources that college offers,” said Larry Barroso, director of college connections at STC.

Students should evaluate what resources they found helpful their first few months on campus. Then they can decide what they’ll need to be successful the second half of the year.

“Keep the end in mind and keep that passion that you had in the beginning as your focus. You have dreams of doing a degree or getting a good job, transferring to the university. So always keep that in mind,” encouraged Hebbard.

The holiday break should be at the time to recharge. It’s time to start another semester with renewed motivation.

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