The Ballard Center has over thirty programs, and students can almost always find a way to get involved; however, navigating through the variety of classes, competitions, internships, and events can be intimidating.
Advisement sessions provide students with an entry point that makes the Ballard Center easily accessible and personal. These one-on-one information sessions help students understand how their life goals align with what the Ballard Center has to offer.
“I want to be a personalized, engaging, insightful filter who helps students realize their own potential through the Ballard Center,” says Ballard Center advisor Melena Warden. “Students will come in and say, ‘I’ve been looking for this.’ This generation is a generation that wants to be changemakers. I get to lead students in a good direction, sculpt and mold their vision for the future, and show them things they haven’t considered before.”
Advisors are students themselves who have been previously involved with the Ballard Center. Sessions typically begin with the advisor getting to know students by asking about their majors, what they see themselves doing, and what types of service or business organizations they have been involved with in the past. Warden enjoys asking students questions such as, “What would you do with your life if you had no limits?”
Ballard advisors conducted a total of 237 advisement sessions during the 2017–2018 school year. These advisors know and understand the dozens of programs within the Ballard Center and help students choose a path that is tailored to their individual needs and desires. Freshmen who have had an advisement session at the beginning of the semester have often rearranged their schedules to accommodate a Ballard Center class or on-campus internship because they caught the vision and felt compelled to get involved.
Students can sign up for an advisement session online by visiting ballard.byu.edu/advisement.
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Writer: Heidi Phelon