My graduate internship at Owens Community College has given me an opportunity to develop both conceptual and applicable knowledge of academic advising.  My internship and summer job experiences in academic advising, have given knowledge about practices, issues, and trends in this area.  As student affairs practitioners we often focus on ways to help students learn, develop, and grow; this is reflected through practices and models in academic advising. Crookston (1994), an author I reference frequently in the area of advising, explained the differences between developmental and prescriptive academic advising by comparing academic advising to teaching.  Prescriptive advising is when a student comes to an advisor with a problem and the advisor helps fix it (as compared to a doctor), whereas with developmental advising the goal is to help the student take responsibility for his or her decisions and actions.  Although I use developmental academic advising with my students, there is a time and place when knowledge of prescriptive advising is useful (e.g. short appointments, group scheduling, e-advising).  O’banion (1994) also described the dimensions and processes of developmental academic advising; five steps I use when I meet with students at my internship site.  My training in non-violent crisis intervention through the Crisis Prevention Institution (n.d.), has given me knowledge of crisis behaviors, and has helped me understand how to implement approaches that will de-escalate crisis behaviors while still building rapport with the student. 
     
     I have gained knowledge on the issues and trends in academic advising through research in my graduate coursework, as well as through the National Academic Advising Association’s (NACADA) website and publications.  Throughout my graduate career I have done research on remedial education, transfer student issues, professional versus faculty advising, and differences between students attending community colleges and four-year institutions; all of which affect the functional area of academic advising. 
I believe that academic advisors also serve as an epicenter of institutional information and refer students to resources that are available to students on campus.  Through my internship and coursework, I have become knowledgeable of resources that exist not only at my institution, but also that exist outside of institutions.  These resources include U.Select (www.transfer.org), a website that helps transfer students ensure they are taking courses that will transfer, and FOCUS (www.focuscareer2.com) which assesses a student’s interests, values, skills, personality, and leisure activities to help him or her gain insight on career options and aspirations.  These tools help me effectively advise students who are transferring and/or still exploring their career options.  Having knowledge of these resources, as well as knowledge of the resources available on campus, makes me an effective and knowledgeable advisor. 
   

     As I consider my future endeavors in student affairs, academic advising is a functional area that I am interested in because it shares commonalities with mental health counseling.  My knowledge of the practices, issues, and trends in advising will serve me well in not only the profession of student affairs, but as a mental health counselor at an institution of higher education.  I believe that the knowledge I have gained in the area of academic advising will help me to be an effective mental health counselor, academic advisor, and faculty member.