Springfield College Academic Success Center

The ASC would like to congratulate Sierra Gato for being named Tutor of the Month! A pre-PT student, Sierra has helped countless students overcome their fear of chemistry! Sierra is a kind, warm person who always has a smile on her face and who makes the ASC such a great place to work at.

The Academic Success Center would like to congratulate Brenna Sullivan for being named Tutor of the Month! Brenna is a graduate AT major who tutors undergrad & graduate AT students. Not only is Brenna a pleasure to work with, but she also embodies the Springfield College philosophy of service to others. She has been such a wonderful person to represent the ASC - we tip our hats to such a fantastic person!

The ASC would like to congratulate Adi Ramos-Delgado for being named Tutor of the Month for the month of October! Adi is a 2nd year DPT student who began tutoring for us this past summer. Adi was instrumental in helping the summer DPT cohort succeed, and she has continued to tutor & guide the DPT1 cohort during this fall semester. Congrats, Adi - the students at Springfield College are so lucky to have you in their corner!

The ASC would like to congratulate James Uyar for being named Tutor of the Month! James took this month's top honor because of his commitment to his students and his willingness to take on new challenges. The ASC is lucky to have such a fabulous writing tutor on staff! Congrats, James!

My time at Springfield College is done. I am very proud to have been the founding Director of the Springfield College Academic Success Center and of the great work we did together in the ASC over the last 17 years. I will miss all the amazing students at SC and am grateful for all of those with whom I got to laugh, share and work with. I will miss my wonderful colleagues across the campus and I take pride in the safety nets and systems for success that we built collectively. I deeply miss my amazing ASC staff, Brian, Camille, Tami, Brianna, Kenny and Jillian, and I carry great appreciation for our collaborations that made the ASC work. I was blessed to be able to create cool things and have meaningful work for 17 years and so wish a fond farewell to all those at SC who live its mission. I’m also happy to report that I will now be returning to Landmark College where I began my career 30 years ago. I am looking forward to new learning, new challenges and new collaborations on this next leg of my journey.

We celebrated our 5th DAP Induction ceremony and it was great to honor our dedicated, hard working, savvy students!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/springfieldcollege/albums/72177720316599269/

The ASC would like to congratulate Jay Holmes for being named Tutor of the Month! Jay is a junior Computer Science/Criminal Justice Major who tutors several Math & Computer Science courses for the ASC. Jay's eagerness to tutor students in multiple subjects and her friendly demeanor earned her top honors for April. Congrats, Jay!

Delta Alpha Pi Induction Ceremony Opening Remarks:
Andrew Wilcox, Director of the Academic Success Center

I want to welcome all of our community members and our Delta Alpha Pi scholars to this, our fifth induction ceremony of the College's Zeta Upsilon Chapter of Delta Alpha Pi.

Over this last year, I’ve been taking a deep dive, exploring the hero's journey. Joseph Campbell, a famous scholar of mythology, looked at the structure of hundreds of stories, myths, legends and fairy tales, and discovered what he called the mono-myth of the hero's journey. Whether it’s Dorothy whisked off to Oz in the tornado, Harry Potter riding a flying motorcycle with Hagrid to Hogwarts, or Odysseus trying to escape Circe‘s curse to sail back home, they are all aspects of this mono-myth.

At this point, some of you might be wondering if I grabbed the wrong speech for this event, but stick with me. I promise I will get to the part that pertains to our Delta Alpha Pi inductees.

Back to the mono-myth! It’s called the hero's journey and has three parts. Part One, the call to adventure is where our hero leaves home for the unknown, because the thing that the hero needs, the golden key, the Horcrux, the water of life, is not going to be found in Walmart or Starbucks.

Part Two is entering the realm of primal forces, like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole to Wonderland or the Hunter following a white stag into a strange, foreboding part of the forest that he has never seen before. This realm of primal forces is filled with hidden dangers and monsters that threaten to destroy our heroes before they can recover the magical, golden object of their quest. Once the hero encounters these monsters then the realm of primal forces provides guides, like fairy godmothers and animal spirits, that aid our heroes to get past the monsters.

It’s often assumed that the story ends when the heroes overcome these strange and scary challenges and obtain the object of their quest, but that is not true. That would be like Dr. Cooper shaking your hand on graduation day and saying “Sorry kid this is it! I know you worked hard to get here, but now you have peaked and it’s all downhill from here.”

Luckily for all of us, a crucial part of the hero's journey is the bringing of the gifts back home, whether they be the cures that heal the sick, or the spell that breaks the curse, or the truth that reshapes the tribe. The gifts our heroes carry home are essential.

So what does this have to do with our scholars who we are gathered to recognize today? It has to do with the odds…

The odds are very high that these Delta Alpha Pi scholars answered the call to adventure and left home to learn new ways, new understandings, and new truths.

The odds are that our scholars who learn differently, have entered the realm of primal forces, and found themselves feeling alone in a strange place where they had to face dangers like dragons, Minotaurs and organic chemistry! To get through these challenges, they had to find allies like wise women, wizards, and maybe an emotional support unicorn.

The odds are also very high that this group of heroes, who prepared with such commitment and fought so hard to achieve their quest, will bring home many gifts:
The patience to understand themselves and others.
The drive and chutzpah to do hard things.
The vision and empathy to not leave behind those are different.
And the fortitude and knowing to lead the way.
To our Delta Alpha Pi scholars, new and old, and those who have not yet joined us, know that I recognize and honor your journey and see you as the heroes of your own tales, because the heroes who undertake these quests aren’t the biggest and strongest. They are not the richest and most politically connected. The hero is always the person of good heart.

So I asked this of you scholars:
Always strive to be of good heart and in a world of memeing, streaming, Snapchattering distraction, stay alert. I would hate for you to miss your next call to adventure.

Ever wonder why we created Writing @ SC? Click and find out:

Who Owns a Writing Center: An Example of Collaboration at Springfield College

Congratulations to Kiki Li for being named Tutor of the Month for March! Kiki is a 3rd year DPT students who tutors the 1xt & 2nd year DPT cohorts. Kiki won top honors for March for serving as a positive role model and taking on new challenges. Congratulations, Kiki!

Congratulations Tami Drummond

The ASC would like to congratulate Maitoe Suppakorn for being named Tutor of the Month! Maitoe is a senior finance major who tutors a plethora of business courses. Maitoe may be known across campus for his prowess on the soccer field, but around the ASC he's also known for his commitment to his students and his upbeat, can-do attitude. Congratulations, Maitoe!