Journal Entry 5: “Developing Goals and Action Plans” Reflection

This past week, I had the pleasure of working with students from our biggest high school.

It was a typical tutoring session with college students really answering homework questions, and

me handling the questions obtaining to life, the program, and future expectations. And even

though it was a typical tutoring session, it was heartfelt in the sense that I had not seen some of

these students in a long time. There is something about working with the students directly that

makes me centered and refocused on the overall goals of the program.

The senior student that I mentioned before in a previous journal has come to talk to me,

once again, about her wanting to go to this out of state, state school, but not sure if she can afford

it. Naturally, I feel the need to immediately develop goals and make plans on what to do to

achieve those goals, but this time, and only because I’ve been practicing my helping skills, I first

asked the student questions to better understand what her true goals are, and why those were her

goals. One of the most helpful factors about our program is the amount of college campuses a

student sees as a participant. It instill confidence in me about my student’s choice in college

when they’re in their senior year, so when a senior says this campus “just fits,” and explains

reasons why, I know they understand. Moving forward from her telling me the story and my

asking questions for clarification, we moved to trying to develop goals and take action to make

sure she can attend this school in the fall.

Our book states to be effective, “... a helper must remain focused on collaborating with

the student and not allow themselves to slip into problem solving for the student (Reynolds

2009.)” This was the hardest step for me to consider because I am used to making solutions and

developing plans for both myself and the student to complete in order to achieve the goal. For

this student, we talked through what the goal was, so it could be clear in the students minds, and

then I followed up with questions about resources she knew in order to reach that goal. My
thought was that doing this was what the textbook considered brainstorming which leads to

developing an action plan (Reynolds 2009.) By the end of the conversation, the student decided

that she would visit her dad and grandfather this weekend to discuss finances fully. She would

then talk to her mom about being a cosigner for a small loan to meet the gap of tuition and what

her father and grandfather are willing to pay. Additionally, she has been working on scholarship

applications, and looking for more through her guidance counselor, and mother’s job. Her last

goal was to get a job now that will turn into full time work by the summer, so she can save

money for expenses on campus.

Reynolds explains that, “in effective helping, committing oneself to specific goals means

accepting the possible consequences and outcomes of one’s actions (2009.)” Although this action

plan and goal is not what I want for the student, only after exploring and expressing the possible

financial burden this choice puts on the student and family, do I feel like I have educated the

student enough to make her own decision. In the future, what I would like to work on more, is

helping the student develop a ‘plan B’ if plan A falls through.

 References

Reynolds, A.L. (2009) Helping College Students. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass