Senior Professional Academic Advisor Victoria Turnquist—better known as Vikki—is a familiar face to many Lasell students. From her office in the corner of Brennan Library, Turnquist makes meaningful connections with and long-lasting impressions on the students she advises, teaches, and talks to throughout their journeys on campus.
In her role as an academic advisor, Turnquist assists students of the School of Humanities, Education, Justice, and Social Sciences, the School of Communication and the Arts, and, as of this semester, the Sport Management major.
Turnquist also bears the title of Peer Mentor Coordinador, a position in which she trains and oversees student leaders who are assigned to each First-Year Seminar and Honors Seminar.
In recent weeks, Turnquist has also been named the Interim Director of the Honors Program, which she explained presented exciting new opportunities and challenges.
“I’m learning how to manage a budget for the first time,” Turnquist said. “I get to do it a little bit with peer mentoring, but planning a big event like the trip to Salem that’s coming up has been kind of fun for me… it’s just not something I’ve had to do.”
Before collecting her list of titles and even longer list of associated responsibilities, Turnquist’s passion for helping students reach their greatest potential started long before she began at Lasell in 2012.
She cited her experience with Upward Bound as the root of her passion for helping others.
Upward Bound, a federal TRiO program run through the University of Maine, operates with the mission of helping low-income high schoolers and first-generation college students prepare for higher education opportunities.
“I’m a first generation college student. I actually come from a very underprivileged family in rural Maine, so I essentially grew up in poverty,” Turnquist explained.
“[Upward Bound] helped me with my college applications, they helped me visit and tour colleges, they helped me with the SAT process. Basically every sort of entrance piece that you need to get into college, they helped me with.”
In addition to Upward Bound’s application resources, Turnquist also recalled many summers during which she took college preparatory classes through the program.
Such classes helped her excel in the courses of the same topics during the following academic year.
Remaining loyal to her roots in the state, Turnquist attended the University of Maine for both her undergraduate and graduate studies.
After completing a bachelor’s degree in communication, she proceeded to earn a master’s degree in student development in higher education and reconnected with the program that helped her begin her journey.
“While I was a student at UMaine, I worked for the Upward Bound program, and I just really found a passion for helping students like myself get through high school,” said Turnquist.
While working for Upward Bound, Turnquist would reconnect with her original experience with the program. “I would basically become one of the counselors that would travel to local high schools and help do all of the work that I kind of described,” said Turnquist.
Through her dual experience with the Upward Bound program as a student and employee, as well as her own struggles with collegiate academic advising, Turnquist was able to better understand her personal goals and professional passions. She noted that her own alma mater was a larger school that focused on research more than connecting with students, unlike many smaller institutions.
“I just really realized that I wanted to be working with college students and helping them, because I didn’t necessarily have the best faculty advisor experience,” Turnquist said.
Looking for a place to connect with the student she worked with, Turnquist found Lasell University, and has continued to work in the academic advising office for over twelve years. Throughout this time, she has found that her favorite part of her job is reconnecting with the students that she once helped find their place on campus.
“I love working with my first-year students, but I really get super excited to see my upperclassmen that I’ve worked with in the past,” said Turnquist. “I really enjoy seeing students come in a little unsure of themselves, and then grow and thrive while they’re here—and seeing all the cool stuff they do.”
As she recalled her extensive experience with managing the academic woes of college students, Turnquist offered one final, brief yet essential piece of advice for new and returning students alike: “Check your email.”
Коментарі