When you start something, you have to see it through to the end. That’s the general wisdom in Germany, you hear it constantly like a mantra. Everybody thinks it's the most important thing is to have a resumé without any gaps in it. So you end up thinking twice before dropping out, and even changing majors is a tough decision for many. We are conditioned by society to view these things as failures, thus many students suffer needlessly for too long before confronting the issues. Leah Jenkner (Dipl.-Geogr.), a student counselor at the University of Bonn Central Study Advisory and Counseling Service, explains, “It’s still a big taboo to admit having such thoughts.” The consequences for students can be quite serious: “Failing to address one’s doubts can lead to or exacerbate psychological problems, potentially causing students to drop out without finishing a degree, sometimes indeed having no other option.”
Pointing out options, assisting with doubts: this is the mission of the Central Study Advisory and Counseling Service. Demand for advice and counseling is tremendous, as out of the roughly 1,000 counseling sessions held by the Central Study Advisory and Counseling Service in 2020 (the lockdown year), 40.36% concerned such study-related doubts.
The object is not to persuade students to take one course of action or another, but rather to provide “unbiased, confidential, individual” support in line with the section’s mission, as Jenkner emphasizes. Showing alternatives to dropping out is important, such as changing concentrations within the same degree program and taking advantage of assistance without changing after all.
The possible solutions are as individual as students themselves, thus counseling requires great sensitivity to the particularities of each person’s problems. “For some the research part may prove too dry, but they discover that they really love teaching. I’m thinking of one student who switched from Romance Studies to study Education,” Jenkner relates. Some realize at a late point in their studies that they just can’t go on. “We then talk to students about their fears and can often help by pointing out alternatives ways of coping with doubts about studies; various alternatives have been compiled for students online as part of the Next Career project.
“We had a student once who was extremely unhappy with how her bachelor’s degree program was organized and with the course content. But after advising she stuck with her studies and went on to do a master’s in order to land her dream job,” Jenkner relates. “On the other hand, there was also a student who right after counseling abandoned her program at the point when it was time to do a master’s thesis; she just couldn’t go through with it.”
Jenkner herself started out in Bonn doing Scandinavian Studies, minoring in English and Geography. She realized it wasn’t a great fit after her second semester so she switched to majoring in Geography before joining the Central Study Advisory and Counseling Service as a student counselor. Her advice: “It’s always a good idea to open up to someone, turning to a good friend or family member perhaps, or coming in to the Central Study Advisory and Counseling Service for an initial consultation. Just because you take advantage of counseling it doesn’t mean you are going to end up leaving the University. We counsel students regarding any questions or problems they may be having related to the student lifecycle. Even if they aren’t entirely clear on what the nature of their problem is. We serve as initial point of contact, making referrals as needed.” For the counseling mission is to enable the best possible outcome for the student.
