Overview 

Following my tenure as an Orientation Leader, I had the privilege of supporting UW’s virtual Advising & Orientation (A&O) programs as a Student Coordinator. In this role, I worked closely with three fellow student coordinators and several professional staff members within New Student & Transfer Programs, formerly known as First Year Programs. My responsibilities included creating detailed visual schedules for Orientation Leaders, running registration labs, and supporting presentations with cross‑campus partners. I often like to describe my main role in this position to be creating the resources and environment necessary for Orientation Leaders to feel supported and thrive. This position introduced me to logistics-based work, an area I had not previously explored or worked in. In this role I was challenged to manage a fast-paced daily schedule, balance multiple deadlines, and stay engaged with the needs of our team. I also learned the importance of staying true to myself as both an individual and a leader.  I am extremely grateful to have had the experience of working a role similar to that of a full-time employee and being introduced to the multiple intricacies of office life while building confidence in my ability to organize and run programming.

​

Personal Importance

After thoroughly enjoying my time as an Orientation Leader, I knew that I wanted to continue supporting UW’s incoming student population. Even as a fifth‑year student now, I can still vividly recall my own Advising & Orientation session and the mix of nerves and excitement that came with such a significant transition. I genuinely love witnessing students gain confidence in navigating this transition and begin taking ownership of their education - this concept is entirely new for many students who are transitioning to undergraduate studies directly from high school. As someone whose parents work in higher education and are social scientists, I am acutely aware of how difficult it can be to navigate higher‑education systems. These systemic barriers often contribute to lower retention rates amongst marginalized students. Before coming to UW, I was deeply involved in local activism focused on uplifting local communities of color and providing mutual aid during the Covid-19 pandemic. Although my capacity to serve in those roles had shifted since enrolling at the UW, I have never lost this commitment to supporting my community. Instead, I have found myself intentionally centering equity in the ways I support first‑year students as they begin their journey at the UW.

 

Tasks Accomplished

• Create Daily Visual Schedules - I created daily visual schedules for 35 student employees at New Student & Transfer Programs. In creating these schedules, I worked collaboratively with full-time staff members and implemented feedback to ensure the accuracy and accessibility to student staff schedules.

• Facilitate Large Group Zoom Sessions - I facilitated large group, 100-500 students, Advising & Orientation sessions over Zoom, working collaboratively with campus partners maintaining the virtual space as presented to incoming students.

• Hosted Transfer Student Registration Lab - I hosted the transfer student registration labs maintaining an organized Zoom atmosphere while answering questions in a main Zoom room and moving students and academic advisors into breakout rooms for 1:1 meetings.

• Support Recruitment, Hiring, and Training- I supported Orientation leader recruitment and hiring while upholding university workplace policy. I also helped train new Orientation Leaders - creating informative presentations, presenting information, and facilitating moments for connection. 

 

During my time as an Advising & Orientation Student Coordinator for New Student & Transfer Programs, I developed a range of leadership competencies including Problem Solving, Personal Values, Providing Feedback, Facilitation.

 

Problem Solving 

Welcoming thousands of students to the University of Washington over Zoom naturally came with a wide range of technical and organizational challenges. Although many people have become increasingly comfortable with virtual platforms since the days of online classes, there are still countless ways for things to go wrong. Whether it was an Orientation Leader getting locked out of their apartment right before their next session, or an advisor suddenly losing Wi‑Fi at home, I often found myself on the front lines jumping in to address these problems to ensure that students did not feel the impact of unexpected disruptions. This role significantly strengthened my ability to quickly assess problems and develop actionable solutions, especially because many of the issues we encountered were impossible to fully anticipate. For example, if an Orientation Leader was unable to facilitate their connection group I would quickly assess if another Orientation Leader could be assigned to this session and if not, I would go ahead and facilitate it myself. Through situations like these, I developed a deeper understanding of how to effectively apply behaviors related to this leadership competency. These behaviors include quickly assessing a problem, determining the most efficient solution, and implementing the solution in a way that minimizes disruptions to others. One aspect of this leadership competency that I am now working on improving in my role as a Peer Advisor is my ability to apply past learning to anticipate and prevent future problems.

 

Personal Values

Working in a dorm room ‘virtual office’ for 39.5 hours a week was at times incredibly exhausting. The large amount of individual, self‑paced work associated with this role stood in stark contrast to my earlier experience as an Orientation Leader where I could feed off of my students' energy. In this position I had to learn how to sustain my energy not just throughout each day, but across the many consecutive weeks of A&O sessions during the summer. At the start of autumn admit orientation, I found myself bringing work home. I would spend my weekends ruminating on what could have gone better during the week and anticipating the long list of tasks waiting for me on Monday. This habit not only drained the joy from my downtime but also affected my performance in this role as I became overly focused on everything that could go wrong. Identifying and grounding myself in my personal values of centering growth and joy helped me shift away from perfectionism and toward a more sustainable and fulfilling approach to my work. This reframing allowed me to genuinely enjoy my time as a Student Coordinator while developing meaningful and transferable skills. Through this experience, I learned that effectively engaging with this leadership competency requires intentional self‑reflection and motivation. Centering my personal values has extended beyond this role, influencing how I approach my education and how I envision my post‑graduation path.

​

Providing Feedback

As someone who is acutely aware of the delicate balance required when giving feedback, I initially felt nervous about taking on this aspect of my role as a Student Coordinator. When providing feedback, I found it essential to be direct while also remaining mindful of phrasing as to ensure that my feedback directly addressed performance within the role and avoided becoming a personal critique. Because I tend to use a lot of words and can easily trail off in conversation, I am still working to improve my ability to deliver feedback that is clear, succinct, and actionable. This role presented a unique environment for practicing this leadership competency, as most feedback was shared in group settings during our morning welcome meetings or afternoon check-outs. This format required me to learn how to present feedback in a way that was relevant to the entire group, not just those that the feedback was directed towards. This role helped me in identifying the efficacy of this leadership competency helping me build confidence in my ability to provide feedback. Developing this competency has supported me in many areas of my life, especially in other paid positions where I now feel more comfortable raising concerns and providing feedback in a way that is both clear and kind.

​

Facilitation

There is nothing quite like explaining how to register for courses to 500 new students as they anxiously type detailed questions about their unique academic backgrounds and course needs into the Zoom chat. Learning how to facilitate these spaces productively by ensuring that the required content was addressed while also acknowledging student questions was something that I improved upon greatly throughout the summer. One strategy I found especially effective for managing this type of session was setting clear expectations at the beginning of the presentation. I would let students know that I would spend the first half presenting essential information and then dedicate the second half to addressing their questions. This approach kept the Zoom chat manageable during the presentation and reassured students that their concerns were seen, valued, and would be addressed. It also allowed them to focus on the new material being taught rather than feeling pressured to try and simultaneously get their questions answered. I’ve found that setting clear expectations has been beneficial across all my facilitation roles, including my work at Camp Korey and as a FIG Leader. Running this session multiple times throughout the summer provided numerous opportunities for me to practice and improve my ability to demonstrate this leadership competency which I developed proficiency in. As I look toward entering new academic and professional spaces post‑graduation, I am excited to explore how these facilitation skills will transfer to less formal presentation settings and research environments where organization, clarity of communication, and responsiveness will remain essential.

​

Group Development 

As a student coordinator, part of my role involved working directly with orientation leaders and facilitating daily opening and closing team meetings. Given the close working relationships among orientation leaders and the demanding nature of the role with extensive facilitation and screen time, cultivating a sense of shared purpose was essential. Throughout the summer, I intentionally centered our collective goals of welcoming new students to the University of Washington, helping them build connections with peers, and ensuring they could identify and access campus resources. One practice that supported this sense of shared purpose was inviting orientation leaders to share their intentions for the day during opening meetings and favorite student interactions during our closing meetings. This reflection allowed them to reconnect with the impact of their work and reinforced our collective priorities. Throughout the summer as energy started to dwindle, I was able to see the big impact that these practices have which increased my motivation to engage with this leadership competency.  Moving forward, I hope to strengthen my ability to foster shared values even when I am not in a formal facilitator role. Developing a deeper understanding of group development outside of designated leadership positions is an area of continued growth for me.

​

Appropriate Interactions 

As an Advising & Orientation (A&O) Student Coordinator, my role came with increased knowledge and responsibility while maintaining the same level of formal authority as an orientation leader. This created a delicate balance and required careful attention to how I engaged with a wide range of student staff members - orientation leaders, student coordinators, and student assistants. Navigating appropriate interactions was particularly challenging due to the diversity of staff roles and levels of responsibility. Additionally, many of my coworkers and I were friends prior to this role, and it was important for me to maintain those friendships while upholding professionalism in the workplace. One strategy I found helpful for ensuring appropriate interactions was establishing clear personal boundaries. I tend to be private in professional settings and prefer to focus on tasks rather than socializing or sharing personal details at work. Setting this internal boundary helped clarify that while friendships could exist outside of work, the workplace itself required a different level of professionalism. This role frequently tested my boundaries and reinforced the significance of appropriate workplace interactions for overall team success. In future roles, I hope to continue refining my ability to build meaningful connections while maintaining these boundaries. I have learned that some individuals value building friendships within the workplace more than I naturally do, and developing comfort with this, without compromising my boundaries, is an area I would like to grow in.

​

Responding to Ambiguity 

As highlighted in the reflections above regarding my development of other leadership competencies, the fast-paced nature of Advising & Orientation required frequent responses to ambiguous situations. Unexpected challenges could arise at any point during the day, and with a busy team of professional and student staff, the person who first identified an issue often needed to begin addressing it before additional support became available. For example, when a presenter failed to show up for a session, I needed to facilitate the Zoom room to keep students engaged while simultaneously working to locate the presenter and coordinate a solution. Experiences like this reinforced that responses to ambiguity are rarely perfect. Rather than striving for ideal outcomes, the focus must be on addressing the situation as effectively as possible with the information and resources available. As someone who values planning, this role significantly strengthened my proficiency in navigating uncertainty. Developing this leadership competency has been valuable not only in professional contexts but also in my personal life. When I faced significant health challenges over the past year, I often had to make academic decisions without complete information about my health or capacity. Drawing on my experience responding to ambiguity as an A&O Student Coordinator helped me navigate these unknowns with greater resilience and flexibility.

​

Lessons Learned & Future Goals 

My time as an Advising & Orientation Student Coordinator during my second year at the UW truly shaped the trajectory of my following years and deep engagement with student academic services roles. After finishing my time in this position and recognizing how much I enjoyed supporting students in the transfer registration lab, I went on to become a Peer Advisor for UAA Advising. As a Peer Advisor I have found that many of the leadership competencies I developed as a Student Coordinator, such as problem solving and providing feedback, were especially valuable as I work to address complex student concerns and collaborate closely with a team of ten peer advisors.

​

As I shift my focus toward graduate school and likely step away from student academic services positions, I still believe that the leadership skills I’ve gained will remain invaluable. My ability to stay grounded in my personal values, approach challenges with a problem‑solving mindset, and provide feedback thoughtfully will continue to serve me in all academic spaces and professional environments I enter.