We all have that person in our lives. The one who is our first call when a major life event happens. The one who we can wake in the middle of the night without a second thought. The one whose hug is the best medicine. For many of us, our parents or our best friend serve as that person. At Proctor, the advisor doesn’t seek to replace this trusted person, but becomes another trusted adult for each of our students.
On August 15, incoming students will learn who their faculty advisor will be for the upcoming year. At first it will just be a name. Our students and families will look up their advisor’s bio on our website, maybe Google them or look them up on Linkedin. But quickly, this name will become so much more than an online bio or resume. They will become a guide for our students through the early days of transitioning to Proctor, they will be there for a daily check-in, willingly answer the late night Webex or phone call, they will help plan academic courses, encourage the off-campus experience, be the purveyor of snacks, and help navigate the ups and downs of adolescence. Gradually, the advisor will become the person for each of their advisees.
A few years ago, the Ted Radio Hour featured a clip from Rita Pierson’s powerful Ted Talk “Every Kid Needs a Champion”. Pierson discussed the need for trusting relationships to serve as a foundation for student learning. As faculty, we have spent considerable time learning about the neuroscience of the relational learning Pierson champions. In doing so, we have come to better understand the science behind what we have long known about the role trust plays in learning.
The relationships we seek to develop with our students are mirrored by the partnership we desire to form with their parents and guardians. Adolescence is rarely a linear journey of growth. Instead its twists and turns test the strands of the support that surround each teenager. As advisors welcome new students to the Proctor community in the coming weeks, we begin the process of building the trust that will undergird the rest of the Proctor experience.
The start to this year will be filled with unknowns for our new (and returning) students (read more in THIS recent blog post).
Throughout this transition to the school year, each student’s advisor will be critical. There will be excitement and trepidation, a standard rollercoaster of emotions that accompanies every major life transition, and through it all, the trust that we know sits at the core of learning will continuously be sharpened through transparency and candor. It is through these open conversations that we will be empowered to surround each student with the love and support they need to thrive at Proctor in what promises to be a most interesting year ahead.
Read more about Community and Relationships at Proctor!
- Advisory Program
- Community and Relationships