Fear welcomes doubt into the dorm room. As the sun goes down on the first night, your young adults snuggle into their new beds with excitement, anticipation, fear and doubt. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, from a distance, we their parents and teachers could provide them with a non-judgmental, informed adult that they could reach out to in times of fear and uncertainty?
Academic life coaches trained in the YouEvolve© or similar coaching models ease this transition for many college bound young adults. Through powerful questions and a guided self-discovery process, coaches prepare students to replace fear with confidence, doubt with trust and the resultant self-blame with responsibility. This gradual, gentle approach alleviates anxiety and increases feelings of well-being as the young adult explores himself or herself, voices his or her thoughts and dreams, opens new pathways and doors, learns new self-management techniques , critically evaluates his or her dreams, actions and ambitions and excels in self-development, self-awareness and personal satisfaction. Let’s review the various stages of the YouEVOLVE© academic coaching model.
YouEVOLVE© Academic Coaching Model
E (of EVOLVE) –Explore Yourself (Who am I)?
The coach and young adult explore the various roles in student life – learner, friend, leader, student, apprentice, researcher, athlete, artist, employee and so on. The goal in this stage is to transition from dependence to independence while building self-awareness and self-esteem, both academically and personally.
V (of EVOLVE) – Voice your thoughts and dreams (Who do I want to be?)
Clarification and visualization of your student’s longer term academic and career goals provide the foundations and benchmarks for performance, well-being and a sense of accomplishment. This is the time, the stage of life, for dreams, aspirations and creation. Encourage your students to dream big and explore possibilities– as the academic coach cultivates a non-judgmental environment for the young adult to dream, explore and identify as many opportunities and options as possible. These are perhaps the most purposeful and intensive brainstorming sessions of a young adult’s life as they voice their highest aspirations with a non-family member who listens carefully without bias, responds inquisitively and supports the visualizations and verbalizations offered by the young adult transforming dreams into action steps, strategies and tactics.
O (of EVOLVE) – Open New Pathways and Doors (On the road to becoming…. Or how do I become the person I want to be?)
As the young adult encounters the new academic environment, shorter classes, syllabi, long range projects, academic, social and work life balance, the coach encourages the student to visualize potential pathways and outcomes. In other words, the student practices strategies and techniques before the live events, replacing initial fears with confidence and self-doubt with self-trust. All the while, the coach helps the student keep the long range goal in sight and attainable by probing successes and failures and celebrating milestones. As athletic coaches say, “Keep your eye on the ball.”
L (of EVOLVE) – Learn Self-Management (On the road to becoming….What skills, strategies and tactics will enhance my journey?)
Many colleges offer students time management and other study skills classes. However, each learner is unique. That is, each learner is uniquely equipped to achieve his or her desired outcomes. First, the coach offers students assessments to identify learning styles and preferences. Together, the coach and student use this data to create study plans and build study skills supported by the student’s identified strengths. One main difference between the university sponsored programs and individualized academic coaching is the strength based support system for developing highly individualized plans and skills. Rather than a trial and error period of general plans and skills, the assessments offer study strategies and tactics based upon the individual student’s strengths, not on the strengths and weaknesses found in the general college population. In my opinion and personal experience, this improves the academic experience and grades for many students.