It's their job: School advisor faces new challenges

Name: Tracy Henderson

Job: International Advisor at Eastern New Mexico University

Background: Tracy earned her bachelor’s degree at ENMU and majored in public relations. After that, she continued on to get her master’s degree from ENMU. When she finished her studies, she went to Texas. She came back to Portales about three years ago and took the position of director of student activities and organizations at ENMU for about 2 1/2 years.

Time on the job: About a month.

What is a typical day on the job for you? “A typical day on this job is to try to register everybody, updating transcripts, helping students to get processed. Right now, since it is the beginning of this semester, we are registering students, making sure they are in the class, getting their degree plan updated and everyone’s transcript up to date.”

You are basically dealing with international students, so what’s your impression of these students from overseas? “I think they are great, and I really enjoy working with our international students. Working with them is very pleasant, and because I am still learning the job, they are very patient. All the international students have been very understandable about that and very welcoming. It is different compared to working in student activities and organizations. This has been such a fresh working experience. They have different customs and culture backgrounds. It’s been great to learn this from them.”

What do you think is the biggest challenge for you on this new job? “Learning all the regulations is the biggest challenge now. It’s trying to learn information fast and to be able to apply it as fast because we have so many students to register, and be aware of that to get it done in a timely manner. I still have so much to learn.”

What do you enjoy most about your job? “The challenges of learning everything, working and learning from different cultures are so fascinating. It’s new, and very great.”