Talk to Your Advisor

Once upon a time, I was a Stanford undergraduate.

I was the first in my family to go to a four-year college (I jokingly referred to it as “sleep away college”), I understood very little about university culture (what are office hours anyway?), and was baffled by the rules, regulations, and norms that everyone else seemed to just effortlessly know off hand.

I spent a lot of time trying not to be found out. I had a vague notion that if my professors or my peers discovered that I felt like I didn’t fit in, they would throw me out (I imagined an Invasion of the Body Snatchers sort of scene).

Eventually, I earned my degree, went on to complete a PhD, worked at other Universities, and then returned to Stanford, first as a teaching fellow and then as an advisor. My time in academia and across different institutions has given me the sort of institutional knowledge and cultural capital that undergraduate me definitely didn’t have.

Now I spend a lot of my time trying to help students, both those with backgrounds similar to mine and those with entirely different stories, make the most of their time at Stanford.

I want to guide students in forging their own unique paths through their undergraduate experiences, to help them find the opportunities and options that are right for them, and to assist them in identifying the resources and communities that can make this place not only a foundation for the rest of their lives, but also a home in and of itself.

I endeavor to meet with each and every student where he, she, or they are and aid them in finding their way to the places they want to go.

When I first meet with my incoming frosh over the summer, I tell them to think of me as their one stop shop for questions about navigating Stanford. I assure them that I either have the answer, know who does, or will be very excited to discover something new with them.

I am here for students in all sorts of situations.

I am here for students with questions about how the university works.

I am here for students with questions about how to talk to a faculty member.

I am here for students who are so excited about a topic they need to tell someone.

I am here for students who are so frustrated that they just need to talk.

I am here for the students who are struggling with a class or with a major life choice (which may or may not be about choosing a major).

 I am here for the students who are thriving and want to know how to do even more, whether it is research, independent study, or study abroad.

And I am here to assure all of my students that very often the students who are struggling and the students who are thriving are the very same students, just at different places in their experiences.

My colleagues and I in Academic Advising all took different paths to this place in our lives and careers, but we are all here for the same reason. We want to help you make Stanford your own in any way we can.

So come see us.

I cannot promise you that you will never see a consonant on your transcript or that you will reach all the goals you aim for. But I can promise that you are not alone here as you discover the myriad possibilities within both the university and yourself.

Melissa Stevenson

Lead Undergraduate Advising Director with Academic Advising

If you have a Stanford Story you would like to share, contact melissas@stanford.edu.