Academic Advising: Behind the Scenes with Academic Advisor Amanpreet!

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Still unsure about what your program requirements are or what courses to take while you study at Alexander College? Talk to an Academic Advisor!

We previously talked to one of our Academic Advisors, Sunny, but this time we sat down with one of our other Academic Advisors, Amanpreet, to get to know her and what advice she has for students.

Some quotes have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Tell me a little about yourself.

My name is Amanpreet but I also go by Aman for short.

I recently started doing Academic Advising about two months ago because I love connecting with students who come from diverse backgrounds. It’s really fun to chat with them and learn about their experiences.

I also advise them about their courses, course planning, GPA calculations, and how to navigate their educational journey. It’s really fun to get to know them and they can know me as well.

A fun fact about myself is that I love biking, so whenever I get the chance I like to bike around town.

Why did you decide to become an Academic Advisor?

One of the reasons is that I love talking to people. Especially so at our college where we have a lot of different backgrounds and students from different countries.

I get to know about their culture and help them. They move to Canada to get their education and I find it really fulfilling to help them go to different universities or graduate from our school and find the jobs they need.

Some people might not have had experience with Academic Advising services because it wasn’t offered to them in high school or they may not know what to ask. What is your advice for those people?

For students who don’t know what to ask, they can just come introduce themselves and we can take a look at their student portfolio and then we can suggest courses they can take for the future.

They don’t necessarily have to come for big questions, like how to transfer, or “Oh, I’m struggling,” something like that. It doesn’t have to be specific questions either!

Do you think Academic Advising makes an impact on student success?

Absolutely! I think we can provide them with a direction.

We offer a lot of courses and taking random courses will not help them graduate. So for specific programs, they need specific courses, which will help them with graduation.

It’s best for students to be in touch with Academic Advisors every semester, even before course registration and also after their grades for that semester come out.

What is something you do behind the scenes when you’re not talking to students?

Behind the scenes, I am usually replying to student emails. A lot of them are asking for course planning and GPA calculations.

I also try to brainstorm ideas about a different workshops to help them know more about our services.

What kind of workshops do you host?

We have different kinds of workshops. For example, recently we did a workshop introducing Academic Advising—what services we offer, when can students contact us, and so on.

Right now, we are also planning a University Transfer Fair which will be coming up soon. Students can keep checking the website for more information and keep an eye on their email inbox.

What is something you wish you knew as a student?

I think I would have benefited a lot more if I had made more connections, constantly talking with peers and even instructors. You will learn a lot more by asking for advice or just talking to them.

Speaking with people will not only help with friendships, but they can also potentially help with references for jobs in the future, especially if you talk with instructors. That is very beneficial—I wish I would have done that more.

What are some additional things that you want readers to know about you or Academic Advising?

One thing about Academic Advising that we don’t advertise as much or they might not know about is that we offer Academic Advising in 15 to 16 languages.

In case students are not comfortable with speaking in English or with us, they can just send us an email and say, “Hey, I’m looking for advising in this language. Can you connect me with this language advisor?” We would be happy to help with that!

Often Sunny and I are the main people, but in case students need more help with different languages, everyone else is more than happy to help!

If you’re looking for additional support on your academic journey, speak with an Academic Advisor today.