The fall semester wasn’t easy for West Chester University senior Courtney Bodle. The nutrition and dietetics major said she struggles with technology and finds online instruction to be more challenging. Time management also has been tougher for her in the remote world. Bodle’s microbiology professor noticed she could use some assistance and referred her to WCU’s Success Coaching program.

Success Coaching is a free, peer-to-peer program available to all WCU students that is one of the many learning and support services offered by University College. Individualized to each student’s needs, success coaching can help with study skills, note-taking techniques, test and finals preparation, effective communication, combatting procrastination, stress reduction, self-care, and more.

During the fall semester, Bodle was busy not only with classwork but with campus sustainability initiatives, including the North and South Campus Gardens. Keeping track of her schedule was hard. Success Coach Stefan Martyniak showed Bodle how to set up an online Google calendar, so that she didn’t miss synchronous class sessions, online club meetings, project deadlines, and other commitments. He also stressed the importance of avoiding negative self-talk.

“Thanks to Stefan’s patience and understanding, things improved for me as the semester progressed,” she said.

Bodle was just one of Martyniak’s success stories. He coached 15 students during the fall semester, including a student he met with regularly who saw one class grade rise from a D at the start of Success Coaching to a B- at the end of the semester.

After just a few Zoom sessions with her Success Coach, Bodle felt like she was back on track.

“Stefan went out of his way to help me,” she said. “We worked on time management and organizational skills, and he also helped me figure out technology issues. For example, I needed to learn how to edit a PDF for one of my classes; we ended up learning together.”

“The students I’ve worked with, including Courtney, realize that they have a lot to be proud of,” said Martyniak. “The positives coming out of 2020 include recognizing and celebrating our perseverance. Employers are going to be impressed with the way today’s students have succeeded despite many obstacles.”