Welcome to My College Wisdom

Greetings and welcome to My College Wisdom – a blog devoted to providing advice, guidance, and insights into the college experience for students, parents and families, and anyone else who might be interested. The purpose of MCW is simple: to help students identify, apply and be admitted to, and succeed in college.

Okay, so that’s fine and all, but you may be wondering just exactly what qualifies me to be doling out wisdom about college. Fair enough.

For starters, though it should probably go without saying, I did go to college. And I graduated – in four years, no less. I also went to graduate school and have a master’s degree in higher education. So to the extent that being the rightful owner of framed diplomas lends credibility to my entering the blogosphere I suppose I can check that box and move on.

More to the point, I have spent the last 30 years as an administrator and dean at three exceptional colleges – Middlebury College, Colgate University, and Colby College. I have held a number of positions along the way including leadership roles in student activities, dean of first-year students, associate dean of the college/dean of student affairs, and the last 10 years as vice president for student affairs and dean of students at Colby. These positions involved a variety of different roles and a wide range of responsibilities, the bulk of which were focused on helping students and their families understand, negotiate, and get the most out of their college experience. I am also the parent of both a current college student and a rising high school senior who is knee-deep in the college search process.

So I have seen and experienced college through a number of different lenses over a long period of time. MCW is intended to be a vehicle for sharing the wisdom – or what passes for it – I have collected over the years to help more students succeed in identifying and thriving in the right college for them. And hopefully to do it in a way that is accessible, easy to understand, and maybe even entertaining from time to time.

It’s probably worth saying at the outset that this is likely to be a bit of grab bag of topics from one post to the next. I don’t have a highly structured, predetermined cadre of essays beginning with establishing a 529 college savings account for little Davey on the day you first bring him home from the maternity ward and culminating with the best place to snap the picture of Suzy as she collects her diploma from President Goodgrip on some Memorial Day weekend in the not too distant future. From day to day posts will bounce from one topic to another without much rhyme or reason. Over the course of a week posts may include:

• Surviving a 10-day road trip to visit colleges with your parents/child (mom-glare, because-I-said-so/heavy sigh, eye roll);
• Time management and successfully navigating final exams;
• The relative value of a summer job waiting tables versus getting an internship in finance; and,
• Why parents should never use the first person plural pronoun – we – when talking about their child’s college experience.

I also want MCW to be a venue for discussing college-related subjects with broader societal implications such as the cost of a college education, diversity and inclusion, sexual violence, sustainability, health and wellness, and the ways in which colleges and universities promote public service and serve the common good. And yes, from time to time I will definitely be sharing some of the stories I have collected working in colleges over that last three decades (the names will be changed to protect the innocent, the not-so-innocent, and the not-even-remotely-resembling-innocent).

Finally, my hope is that MCW will be a forum for ongoing discussion with you about the full range of issues related to how students and their families experience college. To that end, I hope that readers will respond to posts with comments and questions that enable us to probe deeper into the issues that matter most to you. And, I encourage you to contact me with suggestions for future topics.

All right, that should suffice as an introduction. Tomorrow I will be offering some thoughts on things students who will be starting college in the fall should be thinking about at this point in the summer. Thanks for visiting My College Wisdom. Take care and come back often.

-JST

Author: jterhune

Jim Terhune is an educator with over 30 years of experience as a senior administrator and dean at top colleges. Jim is founder and principal at James Terhune Consulting, LLC (JTC) - an educational consulting firm that provides counsel, strategic management assistance, and practical advice to colleges, schools, and students aimed at enhancing and enriching the student experience. Before launching JTC, Jim spent 11 years at Colby College as vice president for strategic initiatives (2016-2017) and vice president for student affairs and dean of students (2006–2016). Prior to Colby, he worked for 15 years at Colgate University in a number of leadership roles including director of student activities, dean of first-year students, associate dean of the college, and dean of student affairs. Jim began his career in higher education at Middlebury College in student activities and the dean of students office. He has an A.B. in English from Middlebury College and an Ed.M. in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from Harvard University. View all posts by jterhune