Students arrive at college with plans. Along the way, a class sparks an unexpected interest, a new experience changes their direction and the future they pictured might start to look different. Helping them navigate those moments begins with understanding something fundamental: what matters to them.
At the À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ, Reno, a two-day workshop asked faculty and staff to step into that same space of curiosity and consider how everyday conversations can help students connect their education to the lives they want to build.
Hosted by the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and the Nevada Career Studio, the October workshop explored life design and career and life integration. Nathan Langfitt, director of career and life integration at the University of Texas at Austin and a consultant, led academic advisors, career services professionals, faculty mentors and other student-facing employees through the experience.
The approach encourages students to stay curious, try new experiences and recognize that their futures can take more than one direction. Through reflection and hands-on activities, students can better understand themselves and connect what they are learning in college to the lives they hope to build.
Rather than asking students to identify a single career path, Langfitt’s approach to life design gives participants tools to consider multiple possibilities and learn from each experience. The approach treats uncertainty as part of the process.
“We want students to see how their experiences at the University connect to the future they are building."
Hillary Procknow, vice provost for undergraduate education, organized the workshop for her staff and other student-facing staff across campus.
“We want students to see how their experiences at the University connect to the future they are building,” Procknow said. “Giving our faculty and staff these tools helps us ask thoughtful questions, encourage exploration and support students as they discover what is meaningful to them.”
The two-day workshop was designed to move from experiencing the activities to learning how to use them with students. On the first day, participants tried approaches including energy mapping and Odyssey Planning. The second day focused on facilitation, developing career learning objectives and designing potential learning experiences for University students.
The goal was to give faculty and staff practical ways to bring these approaches into their everyday work with students.
“Our responsibility is to prepare students for a future that will continue to change," said Executive Vice President and Provost Jeff Thompson. "That means giving them opportunities to understand their strengths, explore different possibilities and connect what they learn at the University to meaningful careers and lives.”
“Our responsibility is to prepare students for a future that will continue to change."
For Gina Sella, an academic advisor in the College of Science, the workshop offered an opportunity to build on her counseling background while gathering resources she can share with colleagues.
“It’s an opportunity for us to take this back to our team and share with them and help them develop as well,” Sella said.
Energy mapping for self-reflection
One activity, energy mapping, asks participants to examine a week of their lives and identify which experiences give them energy and which leave them feeling drained. The exercise encourages small, intentional changes that can help students make decisions about how they spend their time.
“I love what we do in advising. It’s why I get up every day and come to work.”
Sella sees a connection to the demands students and staff navigate every day, including the balance between work and life.
“I love what we do in advising,” she said. “It’s why I get up every day and come to work.”
She said the workshop provides additional tools for supporting students who are balancing academic demands with financial stress, pressure from home and family responsibilities. Some are working more hours than they can comfortably manage alongside their full coursework, leaving little time for their own well-being.
Other workshop activities explore how assumptions about careers can limit students’ thinking. Through an exercise called Odyssey Planning, participants outline three possible five-year plans, considering different paths rather than focusing on a single outcome.
For Katia Albright, director of the Nevada Career Studio in the Dean of Students Office, the workshop offers a way to help students see more possibilities in their education and feel more comfortable when the next step is uncertain.
A major can open doors students have yet to consider. Albright encouraged looking beyond a job title to ask broader questions: What skills am I developing? How do I approach problems? Where else could I apply what I have learned?
Her own experience brings that idea home. Albright studied biology as an undergraduate before finding her way into higher education. The subject she studied continues to shape how she thinks, solves problems and approaches her work.
“All the lessons I learned, I take with me,” Albright said.
That perspective gives students room to try something, learn from it and change direction as their interests develop. Each experience can help them better understand what motivates them and what they want to explore next.
Langfitt shared a message that helped shape his work at UT Austin: If joy is missing from your work, create it.
For Langfitt, the conversation about where an education can take someone is personal. His undergraduate degree is in music education, and he told participants he still sees the world as a musician.
His path has since included graduate studies in instrumental conducting, mental health counseling and higher education. Today, as director of career and life integration he helps students explore how their interests, values and experiences can shape their futures.
The second day of the workshop shifted from experiencing the activities to learning how to facilitate them. Participants practiced guiding conversations, developing career learning objectives and designing potential learning experiences for University students.
The goal was to help faculty and staff bring these approaches into their work, creating more opportunities for students to reflect, explore and take their next steps with confidence.
