I always find it interesting when some of our writers, working without knowledge of each other, seem to come together with a type of theme. This week, that theme is a loose connection of advice and strategies for when you’re seeking out work. I know that some students at AU have been at this university thing for a long time. I was too. And when you’re getting near the end, it can be scary to think of what comes beyond graduation. Your studies can form a comfortable routine, and breaking out of that is worrisome.
So, whether it’s time to jump into something new with just the parachute of your passion for it, figuring out if you need to dump that prospective employer, or dealing with the dreaded interview once you’ve found what you’re looking for, this week you’ll find advice for all of it, including from new Voice contributor, Karlee Kapler, who immediately had my attention with her article title “Editors Behaving Badly”
But our feature article this week is the second part of The Voice Magazine’s interview with AU President Dr. Neil Fassina. Scott Jacobsen gets a little more specific this time, trying to pry out of Dr. Fassina what kind of new technologies students can look forward to AU using, and how the entire idea of a distance university is able to keep up with a rapidly changing world of work.
We also have a look at the most recent Council meeting including the first reading of the new bylaws. What changes are in store for AUSU Council and what will that mean to you? You can find out at least some of that in this week’s “Council Connection.”
Also, AUSU has, almost since its inception, been finding ways to let students’ experience inform each other. This week, Barb Lehtiniemi brings back a piece of that advice that’s been lost with changes over the years. Personally, I like this one a lot because the advice tuned to the reality of students. It’s easy to find generic advice as to how you have to keep on plugging away and eventually you’ll make it. And that kind of advice can almost be disheartening at times, because if we weren’t already having problems with those kind of obvious ideas, we probably wouldn’t be needing advice in the first place. Less common is advice telling you not only that you don’t have to read everything, but that you don’t have to feel guilty about it, or advice tied specifically to how AU designs its courses and exams to save you a bit of work when you already feel like you’re drowning.
Of course, the Voice Magazine doesn’t condone not reading everything in your course. Ideally, you want to get the full benefit from the money you’ve spent, so it makes sense to read as much of it as possiblebut sometimes the ideal is too far to reach. Better to grab what you can than lose all of it from frustration or guilt.
And sometimes just taking a break, reading about your fellow students or what’s going on at AU is all that’s needed to recharge those batteries for another try. So with that in mind, enjoy the read!
P.S. If you didn’t already know, The Voice Magazine has a Facebook page and a twitter feed if youre into that kind of thing.
