Tracking my Development One Tough Phone Call at a Time

I have been thinking a lot about a phone call I had to make to one of my students earlier in the semester. Basically, the student, who is one of our Peer Advisors, called our office to let us know that she would not be able to make supervision, which is the time for peer advisors to talk about their clients and get advice or guidance about it. Her reason for not being able to make it was that she had a paper she needed to finish by that night. My gut reaction was that finishing a paper was not an acceptable excuse for missing supervision, but I checked in with Stephanie about it to make sure. She let me know that for legal reasons, our peer advisors must attend supervision otherwise they are able to advise students. She also let me know that school was not an acceptable reason for missing. She gave me some talking points and I made the call to the student to let her know that if she missed she would not be able to advise. I was really nervous and anxious about making the call because I didn’t know how the student would react. When I made the phone call, I got the easy part over with, I told the student that for legal reasons, she had to attend supervision every week. She completely understood my point and said she would be there. It would have been really easy for me to leave it at that, but I knew I had to let her know that even though we understood that school was her first priority, finishing a paper was not an acceptable reason for missing. I let her know this and she totally understood my point. When she came to the office she actually thanked me and said, “I just needed someone to give me a wake-up call.” This was a big growing moment for me and I really appreciate that Stephanie had me make the phone call because I know this will not be the last time in my career that I’ll have to do something like this.

I think the reason why I’ve been reflecting about it recently is because I’ve been thinking in general about how much I’ve developed into a stronger professional since starting this program. In my first semester working in the SLIC I remember I had students who would just not show up to our meeting. They would not call or send an email and I would just let it go. I know this was not the right thing to do, but I just didn’t know how to approach the situation. I talked to Mandy about it and she let me know that it I just needed to let them know that it was inappropriate to miss our meeting without calling or sending an email. After that, I would approach my students and ask why they missed and I would ask them to call or email next time, but nothing beyond that. I am fully aware that I missed out on a development opportunity for myself and my students. Looking back on it now, I do wish I had taken advantage of it. The experience with the phone call earlier this semester has helped me tremendously for my future because now I know that I can make those tough phone calls or have those tough conversations. It definitely helped lift my level of confidence.