My name is Karen Christie, and I served as Senior Academic Advisor for students in the First-Year Exploratory Studies Program within Goodwin College until the end of 2022. I began working at Drexel in November 2017, but I’ve have been working in higher ed since 2000. Getting back to my roots in advising and working with students one-on-one was what brought me to Drexel.

Interacting with students, even on Zoom, and witnessing their transformation over the first year in college is what I have loved about this role, and assisting them through intensive advising to find the right fit major to continue with their journey at Drexel is a close second. Working with a new cohort of first-year students each year keeps things new and fresh.

Over the years I’ve been at Goodwin, what has stood to me most is assisting the students that overcome struggles during their first or second year and witnessing that lightbulb moment when they turn things right side up academically — or even soar by achieving Dean’s List. Sharing in those moments is extremely rewarding. 

On the opposite spectrum of success are the students we have to say goodbye to. These moments make me question if I failed them in some way, but they stick with me and have helped me be a better advisor. One student comes to mind: after being in FYES for five terms and finding what he thought was the right fit, he continued to struggle academically. Even though he loved Drexel, I realized that being in the right place socially for some students does not transfer to doing well academically. That was a hard goodbye, and I truly hope he continues his educational journey somewhere. I think about him, and other students like him, all the time.

Throughout my time at Goodwin, I feel it has exemplified the “Drexel Difference”: attending an urban research university, being surrounded by people to support and empower you on your academic journey and providing each student with a personal, small-school experience!