By Charlie Wailes | Reporter
As Baylor heads into the home stretch of the fall semester, many students may feel pressure to raise their grades. The Student Success Stories Podcast aims to help students do just that.
Carroll Crowson is the assistant director for the Center of Academic Success and Engagement. She said the podcast has evolved since the pandemic, but it has always been set up to help Baylor students achieve higher academic success.
“We really did modify the podcast to try and meet student needs, especially when we were in the pandemic,” Crowson said. “We flipped from a more general podcast to more specific online learning episodes.”
Since the pandemic, Crowson said the podcast has shifted from simply asking students how they were doing on a daily basis.
“When we came back and were more in person, we focused on a series about our Center for Academic Success and Engagement service,” Crowson said. “Instead of having a staff member talk about it, we interviewed students who had utilized that service.”
Crowson said they ask questions related to how students benefited from the experience.
“We knew that after a time of online school, it would be good to remind everyone of the resources we had to offer,” Crowson said.
Crowson said the goal of the podcast is not only to help students but also to understand what makes them successful.
“I think a lot of times, we think that the people who are being successful are doing the same thing that we’re doing, but they’re just smarter, and that’s not the case,” Crowson said. “It’s also important for students to hear from peers in the same life situation and how they’re succeeding in the context of their own life.”
Seattle sophomore Lachlan McGregor works with the Student Success Stories Podcast and said he thinks the biggest tip for success is a daily schedule.
“As for any students struggling with time management, I would say it is crucial to make a schedule for each day,” McGregor said. “If you know when your free slots between classes are, you will master your day. It is all about how you manage your time. Studying will be so much easier if you do it with a schedule.”
McGregor said his passion for new social connections is what led him to work with the podcast.
“My favorite thing about the podcast is getting to create new relationships with my guests,” McGregor said. “I typically don’t meet any of my guests until they walk into the studio to record, so getting to meet them and hear about their passions and advice is the best way to gain a new relationship.”
McGregor attributed his own personal success to the podcast.
“I first listened to the Student Success Stories Podcast the first month of my freshman year, and I learned a lot from it — from how to branch out and how to study better,” McGregor said. “It was then that I knew I wanted to not only share students’ success stories but also any advice they have for new students like I was.”
The Student Success Stories Podcast is uploaded to YouTube and Spotify, and it is available on Apple Podcasts as well.
