AI tools are everywhere, and so is the pressure to figure out college on your own. In this episode, Melanie sits down with an AI professor to talk honestly about what it means to be prepared for college right now: why tech fluency matters, why it isn't enough, and what gets lost when students avoid both the tools and the people around them. Whether you're just arriving or already a few weeks in, this one is for you.

College feels different than anything you've done before — and that gap between high school and college catches a lot of students off guard. In this episode, Melanie gets specific about what actually helps in your first semester: how to use your syllabus, when to ask for help, how belonging gets built, and why the students who thrive aren't the ones who had it all figured out from day one. Whether you're arriving in the fall or already a few weeks in, this one is for you.

Learning isn't just about information — it's about courage. In this conversation, Melanie and Paul explore the idea that real growth requires two things working together: the empathy to meet something new on its own terms, and the bravery to step into discomfort without knowing what's on the other side.

Whether it's a new subject, a new environment, or a new person, learning asks us to reach beyond ourselves — to suspend judgment, sit with uncertainty, and try anyway. When we have the right resources around us, what's left is a choice: will we dare to understand?

Guest: Dr. Paul Bylsma is an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Counseling and the Graduate Program Director for the CECI M.A. in Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration (HESAA). Paul's research utilizes sociomaterial theories to explore teaching, learning, knowledge, assessment, and practice in a higher education context as a complex encounter between people, space, and time.

For this episode of CECI Connect, Melanie discusses how coordinated care and support works for students facing life, health, and wellness challenges with Katie Perschbacher, Student Care and Outreach Coordinator at Grand Valley State University.

Note: This episode contains mentions of subject matter some may find disturbing.

-- Skip for sensitive content: 2:29 - 02:33 23:31 – 24:12

For this episode of CECI Connect, Melanie discusses the ways in which a liberal arts education supports education and community-innovation careers with Dr. Chasity Bailey-Fakhoury, Associate Dean for the College of Education and Community Innovation at Grand Valley State University.

Academic advisors are here to help you make a plan to finish your degree; but, what is degree planning? In this episode of CECI Connect, our host, Melanie, will share a personal story about how degree planning helped her grow her sense of hope and joy throughout her college experience.

For this episode of CECI Connect, Melanie discusses how safety and discomfort impacts the learning process for students in college with Jen Torreano, Director of the Knowledge Market at Grand Valley State University.

Academic advisors are here to help you achieve academic success; but, what is academic success? In this episode of CECI Connect, our host, Melanie, will share a personal story about her journey toward defining academic success for herself.