Episode #5: Navigating the Game of College

The Rural College Student Experience

"[Colleges] can have as much resources as [they] want, but if you're not making sure rural students know they exist then those resource are pointless."
Bryson Henriott joins Dr. Matt Newlin as co-host of Episode 5 to discuss how rural students navigate the "game" of college. For many rural students - especially those who are the first in their families to attend a postsecondary institution - college can really feel like a game where everyone knows the rules except you. Unfamiliar and burdensome policies can make college feel like a maze that is too daunting to begin.

Co-host Bryson Henriott is a third year student at the University of Georgia. Bryson grew up in Vidalia, Georgia and is now double majoring in Political Science and Public Relations with certificates in Applied Politics and Organizational and Personal Leadership. He is also the president of a student organization called RISE, Rural Students Igniting Success in Education. He also serves in the Student Government Association and was an Orientation Leader.

Our guest today is Dr. Tricia Seifert, a professor in the Adult & Higher Education program at Montana State University who also maintains a faculty appointment at the University of Toronto. Her research broadly investigates the relationship between college student experiences and postsecondary learning and success. Dr. Seifert has begun examining how to support students in the college transition and has launched Success Prints Crash Course® for use in conjunction with college readiness curricula in high schools and first-year experience programs in colleges and universities. Dr. Siefert was named Most Valuable Professor at Montana State University in 2018 and received the Award of Honour from the Canadian Association for College and University Student Services in 2015.
We are greatly appreciative of our partners Believe in Students and their mission to elevate students' voices in order to meet the basic needs of today's college students. Please check out the #RealCollege blog for student stories and perspectives.