The Student Success Center in the McNichols Campus Library is a special place for many people.
It’s a place struggling students can get free tutoring that has been proven to improve their grades. And it’s a place where student tutors learn to become leaders. It’s a place that feels, for many, like home.
“This is another family for me,” said the center’s Director Susan Trudeau. “It was my 50th birthday last year and all the students who used to work here had a secret Facebook group and they had a giant surprise party for me at Homecoming. And they got me, I was 100 percent surprised. They bought me the most lavish gifts and wrote me the most wonderful letters. It really validated my whole career. That one moment when I realized, ‘Hey, I’m doing good things here.’ It’s such a rewarding experience to work here.”
Patrick Masterson has seen both sides of the center. As a freshman, the MBA student sought help in math there; today, he tutors in English, history and economics.
“When I was a freshman, I needed tutoring in math and there was a senior on the lacrosse team who would help me quite a bit,” said Masterson, who will be a redshirt senior for the lacrosse team next season. “I think it’s a natural development that I’m now a senior and helping younger teammates or younger students in general. You see that natural progression where we have young students now, who might help others down the line. It’s kind of cool to see that happen organically, to see people go from getting tutored to being a tutor. It doesn’t always happen, but it’s cool when it does.”
As for Trudeau, she notes the progression of students and alumni, and she keeps in touch with many of them.
“Students come back and visit all the time,” she said. “A student came back and said he opened his own business in Mississippi and he learned how to be a supervisor by working here for me. It’s very flattering, but part of my role is not only helping students who come here as clients but also the students that work here too. To teach them about professionalism and that mission-initiative, to go out and be better people in their communities when they graduate from here. We’re really serving two populations, the students in need and the students who work here.”
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