Creating Your College Success Network

It's July and you are counting the weeks or maybe days until the first day of fall term.  At this point you have met some members of your campus or have names of people you will meet.  This is a great time to organize the contact information of people you have met or will meet shortly.  Who might these people be?

• Admissions counselor or college recruiter who worked with you during the admissions process.
• At your campus orientation, you might have met an orientation leader, financial aid counselor, or academic advisor.
• Also, at orientation, you met other new students.
• If you are living on-campus or used a campus housing directory to find accommodations, you will have one or more roommates.

Creating a contact list is easy and offers quick access to people who might be able to assist you with questions as the first day nears.  You might have questions about your financial aid award that could be answered in a short e-mail to a financial aid counselor.  Maybe you want to change your major, which means talking to your academic advisor about selecting different courses.  As you think about traveling to campus, you might ask other students if they are using public transportation and where they found bus information.  These questions to your peers might alert them to preparation activities they had not thought about but they will greatly benefit from as day one arrives.

So grab the smartphone, computer, or a notebook for organizing names, contact information, and their role in your college success network.  Once you initiate this list, keep it up throughout your college career with periodic updates to keep information accurate and complete.  Networking is an important skill to learn for success in college and in life!