Student Success Month | Spotlight 1
As we spotlight Student Success Month, we’re sharing the journeys of students who found their academic footing by accessing the right supports at UM to develop academic resilience and lifelong learning skills. Lou Hofer and Senuki faced very different academic hurdles but both used UM student services to thrive.
Building confidence through support can make all the difference when it comes to academic success.
Senuki is a third year international student studying electrical engineering who was nervous about academic writing. “I was nervous about starting my second year and academic writing is a skill I was still developing,” she admits. “I didn’t take any courses before where I had to write academic essays.”
Lou Hofer, a 2nd year graduate student in the Faculty of Education, had already completed their first degree in social sciences when they came to UM. Managing their time effectively and overcoming procrastination as a neurodivergent student presented an opportunity to learn new strategies to be successful.
Unsure of where to begin, these students set their sights on the Academic Learning Centre (ALC).
“I was browsing the ALC website because I wanted to find more resources and that’s when I learned about the Reading to Write program,” Senuki explains. “The program is a distance course, but it explained what academic writing is and made it easier for someone who has never done it before. The exercises taught me how to integrate sources and quotations. And there are ALC tutors who grade your papers. It’s helpful for all students who are taking writing courses, especially if you’re new to academic writing.”
Lou met an academic coach. “She helped me build so many incredible strategies for my ADHD. If I was struggling with task initiation or time management, she really helped me develop a couple different strategies that have worked a ton.”
“There are a lot of things on the ALC website like tip-sheets for different struggles that you may be encountering. I’ve used many of those so many times,” Lou says. “I’ve also listened to the ALC podcast quite a bit, it helped me with reading for academic writing purposes. The workshops are also really good, I attended one on tackling procrastination and it really changed how I do things in this next degree.”
Today, these students are not only surviving the semester but thriving in their studies. Senuki is involved in the Women of Manitoba Engineering Network (WOMEN) and works as a content and study skills tutor in the ALC. Lou is now an academic coach with the ALC and is actively involved in community events in the Faculty of Education.
Lou offers a few words of advice for students who are seeking new opportunities to succeed. “Some of the most important learning opportunities are the ones that happen outside of class, get connected to the resources and workshops that are out there, especially at the beginning of the Fall term.”
Whether you’re an international student mastering a new skill or an experienced student who is refining their learning techniques to better suit their needs, UM student supports have your back to turn struggle into strategy.