Transitions Program

[Text on Screen: Webster University, 4 on 4: A TAP Reunion]

[A recorded remote meeting begins, with focus transitioning to a speaker.]

Sheree Wyatt, Tutoring Program Coordinator: Hello and welcome to today's TAP student reunion. My name is Sheree Wyatt. I am the Tutoring Program Coordinator for the REEG Academic Resource Center, and I’m joined today by Dr. Carolyn Brown, who is the Assistant Director of the REEG Academic Resource Center.

Today we'll be speaking with four Webster University students who completed the Transitions and Academic Prep Program, also known as the TAP program. As the students approach graduation, they will be reflecting on their experiences during TAP. I’ll now ask each student to introduce themselves and tell us about their area of study

Cheyenne Parker, Senior English Major with an Emphasis in Creative Writing and Minor in Political Science: Hi, my name is Cheyenne Parker. I'm a Senior English major with an emphasis in Creative Writing and a minor in Political Science. I’m so happy to be here and so thankful for the opportunity, and I am looking forward to staying connected with everybody after graduation.

Justin Klos, Senior Media Communication with an Emphasis in Film, TV and Video Production: Hello, my name is Justin Klos. I am a Senior here at Webster studying Media Communications with a concentration in Film, TV and VideoProduction. I am currently a connection leader at the First-Year Experience and Undergraduate Persistence Department. Again, like Cheyenne said, I’m super excited to be here and excited to stay connected, as well.

Melissa Ekic, Senior in Management with an Emphasis in Human Resource Management: My name is Melissa Ekic, and I am also a Senior at Webster. My major is Management with an Emphasis in Human Resource Management, and I’m excited to share my experiences.

Travis Haughton, Senior Film and Video with a minor in Scriptwriting and Certificate in Entrepreneurship: What's up everybody? My name is Travis Haughton. I'm a Film Director here in St. Louis. My major is Film, TV and Video Production, minor in Scriptwriting, and I’m also getting a Certificate in Entrepreneurship. I'm just excited to share my experiences just like the rest of our TAP people.

Wyatt: Thank you all for that introduction. So to start our conversation we want to ask you how did tab help you navigate through Webster and feel connected the past four years?

Ekic: I'll start. The TAP helped me gain the confidence and the familiarity that I was really lacking my first year of college. It helped me understand how the University is structured and how to just navigate the campus. I learned where to find the resources I needed and what was expected of myself as an upcoming Freshman.

Parker: I learned a lot about networking and, similar to what Melissa said, resources and things of that nature. For me, I was able to get a job super-fast, a federal work study job on campus with the Academic Resource Center as an Assistant for Carolyn, actually. Then I slowly worked my way up to being a Writing Coach. I just learned the power of networking, and also throughout my four years I know who to go to for different situations. Also, the people that I met in the different departments. They know my name and face so if they ever had any opportunities or things that they thought I would enjoy, they would reach out to me as well. So I learned the importance and power of networking.

Klos: I'd say that I learned the importance of meeting new people connecting, and also just asking questions. When there's so many different resources and there's so many types of information that are thrown at you, it really taught me, and still to this day reminds me, to ask questions if I don't know the answer. You shouldn't feel embarrassed either to ask questions.

I think that was something that I felt especially, and I think the more and more I was able to ask questions to my faculty, to resources that I was able to connect with, I was able to feel more confident in myself and my work in what I was doing. Again, it helped me overall connect with people and resources and stay connected as well.

Haughton: I was going to pretty much reiterate what Diane said about the networking part of it, because networking is pretty much important. To me I feel like throughout the TAP program that's all we were doing pretty much, just networking with not only the faculty and the staff but the students in general. I met a lot of new people that I’m still connected with today and is still on this call, so I appreciate that.

Wyatt: What advice would you give incoming Freshmen at Webster?

Ekic: I guess the advice I would have is don't be afraid to ask for help. College, in general, it just seems very overwhelming, especially for someone that's fresh coming out of high school. But Webster is so full of understanding caring faculty that will help you and that want to help you and that will provide you with the resources or with the person that will help you if they don't know how. But it's just opening up and asking for help, which is something that I didn't have coming in or wouldn't have had without the TAP program which is what I’m thankful for.

I was connected to a Counselor. I still meet with Carolyn to this day and that was four years ago that I connected with her. Even though in-between that we kind of, I kind of lost track of that but I still found my way back to it, but as well as just everything that I’ve found through that.

Wyatt: Why would you recommend TAP to incoming students?

Parker: I would recommend TAP to all incoming students of course, but I would specifically think about the students that we have that come from out of state, and not just Illinois or Kansas or closer states, but states like California and Florida. I know when I was a TAP RA we had a few students from the coast and I noticed that they really appreciated the program and benefited from the program because obviously being so far away they can't always fly in to visit the campus and tour the campus.

It gave them an opportunity to do that, and also to get acquainted and familiar with the St. Louis area and then the Webster groves community. I think that's super beneficial and sometimes goes overlooked. I definitely think that is a huge and important aspect because a lot of the events that are put into the schedule are off-campus events. Students have places that they can go to visit in their downtime or when there's not much going on on-campus, they can go to some of the areas that we've taken them to

Haughton: For me personally, I didn't even want to go to college. To be honest after I heard of the TAP program, I was like oh I get to get on campus, I get free credits, I get that campus experience. I was like oh well I can visit the actual college campus, network with faculty and staff members and students, and I can figure out if college is really for me. I think that really helped me. Just in a matter of 10 days I was all like college is for me, I’m going to major in this, I’m going to minor in that and I’m ready to go and be an adult.

Ekic: I want to just finish off with that as well that the program is there to help students with a sense of comfort and confidence when they start college and that's exactly what it provided me with because when I think about it, I would have been so lost if I just started Webster was just a new student I wouldn't have known the resources or been as comfortable with the campus as I was. It's just the comfortability and navigating it that I got from the experience was very helpful, and that's why I recommend it.

Klos: Everything you do every day afterward, after those 10 days, you're going to see the benefits of it. You know after college, throughout college, and it's only just going to make you a better person. You're going to grow, you're going to learn so much and who doesn't want that? I can speak to say that's something that I’ve always wanted to do, is just be a better person and grow and if that's what you're here to do and if you're here at Webster, you were accepted, you're here for a reason. Say that to yourself, you deserve to grow, you deserve to learn. So do yourself a favor, and it'll benefit you. Just go in with an open mind, and again I strongly, strongly recommend doing the TAP program.

[Webster logo on screen]