by JL Woolgar

My doorway is the metaphoric kind. I’m a temp in A&R at our North campus. One of my most important tasks is greeting new and potential students.

In a demographic where many of our students had/have a mother figure with the resources to stay home with their children, we have noted that some students require a more nurturing environment than expected. Fortunately, we are afforded this luxury at North due to our lower population of students.

From my doorway, each student is greeted with a warm smile and an invitation to sit down. This disarms a nervous student. It seems these students are a little more open to learning what I have to teach once they feel safe and get their bearings a bit. For many of these students, it’s the first time they have control over their education, a powerful and inspiring shift.

For another lot of these students, they still do not.

We have a lot of parents accompanying the student to register, receive guidance, and enroll. These students can be adults or otherwise. The parent speaks in a lot of cases. They are also a significant part of decision-making during this process.

Through my doorway, the student is addressed and encouraged to speak for themselves. I have seen first-hand instantaneous empowerment when this theory is applied. They sit up straighter and offer more eye contact. The expression on their faces turns from disinterest and dread to engagement and excitement, a testament to the transformative influence of student empowerment.

Some parents are reluctant to let go of control over their children’s lives. They may even express their discomfort to me. It’s natural for a parent to have doubts about their children’s ability “to adult.” In particular, the student who has been closely guided through their formative years.

Inside my doorway, their concerns are gently addressed as well.

It’s controversial to handhold for a college student. Along with literature and history, we teach personal responsibility, and handholding doesn’t seem conducive to our goal of each student achieving independence. However, I see it as a transfer of power so-to-speak. After this, students such as these feel the freedom to take that power back on their own.

For many of these students, it’s the first time they have control over their education, a powerful and inspiring shift.

These students may feel like this is easier than taking their power from those who gave life and allowed for this comfortable first 18 years. This is where a student can also enjoy the magical discovery that knowledge leads to independence. And that knowledge itself is power.

My background is in the spa industry. I won’t presume to know the science and art behind education, but I know how to make people comfortable and allow them to relax. We all need to be assured relaxation is okay at any particular moment. A consequence of productivity expectations, I suppose. It’s an expectation of any progressive society, but it doesn’t encourage an expectation of openness and vulnerability. Two things that could contribute to effective learning, I would imagine.

While these ideas are apparent and second nature to those with education and experience in academia, it was fun to discover these things on my own. To think all those years of giving massages, removing regretful tattoos, and making America beautiful one facial at a time would be training for welcoming young men and women into one of the most thrilling phases of their lives. What a delightful honor I feel, here, inside my metaphorical doorway.