English majors suffer from many myths about themselves. Many do not have a lot of confidence about their career prospects. I like the peer involvement in the Major Skills exercises. It provides a sense of validation. Participants, both students and advisers, learn a new language for talking about skills.
Participants walk out of the workshop with something concrete and tangible they can use.
In the two years since this workshop was first offered, the benefits from it have been many. Student evaluations have been positive. Strong collaborative partnerships have developed among student services units and academic departments working together to help students obtain more value from their efforts and experiences at the university. Our hope is that we can find a way to involve more students in opportunities to reflect on their educational experiences and appreciate in positive ways what they have learned and the choices they have made at the University of Washington.