My Academic Coaching & Engagement (ACE) Experience
Author’s note: This essay won me a $500 scholarship in May 2019! It was awarded to me by the University of Central Florida’s “ACE” program within the Student Academic Resources Center, which I voluntarily participated in during the Spring 2019 semester.
I am a student on the cusp of concisely evolving into professions I will excel in. Prior to entering UCF, I had been considered a gifted scholar. Initially, majoring in Civil Engineering went fine. But increasingly, frustration over that field’s course load collapsed my organizational skills over my head. With such struggles in mind, looming before this current school year, I shifted gears in two directions: towards academic advising (who recommended I switch to English Technical Communications) and the SARC (where I received my voluntary participation in the ACE Program). Through restructuring my approach to note-keeping, assignment planning, and time management, the mentor-ship I received from ACE has bridged the gap between my own misguided shortcomings and my calling.
Previously, notes taken for classes would appear cluttered, making my study time counter-productive. Even after switching majors, Cornell-style notes seemed unsuitable for reviewing important lessons. With ACE, I began implementing then-unfamiliar (but clearer) note-taking formats and methods. Summarizing each paragraph with only one main idea was recommended, and greatly helped with my literature readings. Nowadays, I can see the bigger picture of a lesson without getting so lost accounting for the details.
As a visual learner, I always sit in the front of my classes to fully take in my professors’ presentations. I have also kept a planner in my backpack most years; however, when my assignments seemed to pile up, or when I wanted to do more with my time, my to-do lists would also clutter the pages. Thanks to ACE, I now consistently keep a Google calendar. I can color-code tasks, set reminders, sync notifications to my phone, and fill in more details than on a paper planner (although I still keep one). Showing my ACE mentor the way I plan tasks out has helped me distinguish which ones are a priority for the week — a task, in itself, I have always struggled with. The consistency that comes from visually distinguishing my tasks out on my Google calendar will additionally serve me well regarding technical writing, which requires conciseness and an easy-to-understand layout. Taking some extra time to distinguish between my top academic priorities, longer-term projects, and what I plan on doing outside schoolwork means I can accomplish my academic tasks earlier and more completely for higher grades.
Last but not least, my time management skills have drastically improved since rejoining the ACE Program. Keeping things simple can be challenging if you are detail and visual-oriented like me. Coping with deadlines (or worse, missing them) can cause further procrastination, a cycle I have dealt with before. Prior to Spring 2019, I had never taken classes full-time at UCF; so, to prevent any unnecessary hesitation, that context was why I voluntarily participated. To-do lists, separate from my planner & Google calendar, were implemented. Doing this helped me stay focused and resulted in gauging, more accurately, my own time-frame for which assignments I can and cannot do. As of April 17, I have A grades in all five of my courses, which I may not have maintained were it not for this under-emphasized campus resource.
Being mentored in ACE by Sebastiana last Fall, and Ryan this Spring, has helped lead my way out of academic probation and successfully transitioning (and then handling) a full-time schedule. More importantly, both of these mentors have helped me help myself out. While I continue navigating through my emerging career and taking newfound perspectives, I fully intend, with confidence gained from this program’s insight, to strive for excellence in all my concerted efforts. The ACE Program will be (and will remain) a cornerstone of my success in eventual technical writing, project management, and potential success.
