Seas the Day: On Making the Most of Summer Advising and Reflections
June is here and with it comes the excitement of summer plans, internships, hobbies, and sleep. We all know how quickly summer flies by, and before we know it, we will be back in school in-person for the first time in over a year. Before summer zooms by (pun slightly intended) I asked 4 current Advising Fellows to reflect on advising so far and to share both personal and advising related goals. Their responses not only cultivated a diverse summer playlist, but also some tips and insight into balancing advising with busy schedules as well as making the most of summer.
What are Matriculate AFs looking forward to this summer?
After a virtual year Zach Brown (DC ‘24), Alán Balboa-de la Fuente (DC ‘24), and Valentina Guo (BR ‘24) are looking forward to being back in New Haven for summer session courses and to have the opportunity to see friends and take trips to Arethusa’s! Alán also wants to prioritize mental health this summer and start learning Portueguese. Sunehra Subah (BK ‘24) is excited to spend some of the extra time this summer working with her HSF.
Relationship Building and Highlights of Advising so Far
One of the most important aspects of Matriculate is its use of near peer advising to form connections between Advising Fellows and High School Fellows. Alán shares that “maintaining constant communication with my High School Fellow has helped us both be on the same page.” Communication paired with informal check-ins and poking some fun at their shared home state, Texas, has “definitely strengthened [their] relationship.” Jokes have also helped Zach build a relationship with his HSF. He said that his HSF made some fun at how formal he was at first; he called this a highlight because it showed that “she was comfortable enough to poke fun at me.” Valentina says she and her HSF connected by finding a shared love over Korean music. To continue that bond they are creating a Spotify playlist over the summer. Sunehra shared that she and her HSF bonded by finding shared experiences and challenges, like both being first-generation and living in New York. Now they are both “hype women” for one another. She said that “after some trial and error I decided to use PowerPoints for my meetings” because she noticed her HSF likes to take notes; to break up the information from the curriculum, she adds memes to her presentation.
Hearing their responses prompted me to reflect on my relationship with my HSF. It made me want to slow down my meetings to incorporate more questions on finding similarities or interests between us to help build our relationship. This will be helpful because we plan to work on the college resume and essay this summer. Reading Alán’s comment also made me want to send more informal check-ins with my HSF to see how she is doing throughout the week. One common thread I noticed in each interview was the importance of levity and fun—be that over a tik tok, jokes about formality, or teasing a home state. Overall, it is important to remember that building a relationship takes time and some trial and error. Bonding over a shared experience, book, song/playlist, or class alongside those check-in messages are steps that you can use to build your relationship over the summer. It is never too late to incorporate those questions into your meetings or in a follow-up email/text to further your relationship or even send a gif for good luck on AP exams or a difficult week.
Summer Goals, Advising Tips, Moving forward
Moving forward Valentina is going to hold meetings with her HSF on Discord and she plans to continue a best practice: being clear about her availability in advance. She also plans to watch for fly-in deadlines and the QuestBridge application with a trusty to-do list and use of a calendar which lessens stress about balancing advising, milestones, and summer activities. Alán said one of his goals is “to feel more willing to reach out to my Head Advising Fellows whenever I have questions” which is a great reminder to reach out to Peyton and Sayda or go to their office hours (Mondays at 7pm ET). Reaching out to other AFs is also a great resource as we try to make the most of our summers as students and advisors. Zach plans to use the extra time in the summer to build upon his relationship with his HSF. Remembering to step back and to check in with both yourself and your HSF is important as we enter summer, especially as many AFs plan to work with their HSF on the college resume and essay during the summer months. On the topic of the college essay, Sunehra hopes to dispel the idea that the college essay has to be about a trauma or hardship; she wants to encourage her HSF to write about “something meaningful—it doesn’t have to be an uncomfortable experience.”
Staying Motivated and Balanced
Between internships, classes, and goals, free time in the summer is filled quickly. Alán says whenever he feels overwhelmed “knowing that this is not about me, but to help students coming from a similar background as myself helps me push forward” and he reminds himself of Matriculate’s goal to foster equity and opportunity in education. Zach says that “knowing advising impacts someone else” helps him stay motivated. Sunehra recommends spending some time in the moment this summer to appreciate the little things, like catching up with friends or enjoying music (see below for summer song recs).
Songs for the Summer
Songs: Brutal by Olivia Rodrigo, Diamonds by Rihanna, I Want to Dance with Somebody by Whitney Houston, Meet Me at Our Spot by Willow (my current favorite), and Honey in the Summer by PUBLIC.
In Conclusion
Summer is a perfect time to work on many advising milestones and personal goals, but it can feel overwhelming to balance the two. Interviewing my fellow AFs reminded me that it is important to step back and remember the foundation of what Matriculate rests upon—making connections with HSFs and improving equity in education. It also reminded me that building relationships takes time, as well as some trial and error. With that in mind, I hope to go back to the basics and use more check-ins and gifs in my emails to further my relationship with my HSF in the coming weeks. I plan to go over summer goals and places where more support is needed alongside my HSF so we can grow together while staying on top of advising milestones like the resume, essay, and list. Most of all, I feel inspired by my fellow AFs and confident that I can reach out to the Matriculate community for tips and support as I move forward with summer advising.