Published: April 28, 2017 By ,

McNeil Coordinator and Writing instructor Dan WestBeing in the McNeill Program at the University of Colorado Boulder has given me the opportunity to have a successful experience with this multicultural learning community that prepares the students to be top scholars and leaders in their communities. The McNeill program has a lot of helpful programs components that give us four wonderful school years that benefit us in many ways. For example, for myself, the most helpful was having a McNeill Academic Coordinator like Mr. Dan West.

Being a first generation and English learner, made my freshman year difficult. This not only means going where no relative has gone before, it means facing new challenges and deciding to earn a degree without having a clue where to start. It can also be difficult because you will get mixed signals from your family, like “make us proud but don't leave us” and the toughest challenge is breaking the family's tradition without getting guidance from your family.

On top of being a first generation student, also being an English learner brings other challenges like having difficulty expressing myself in English in order to get help.

Through all those ups and downs during my freshman year experiences, Mr. Dan West was beside me. I want to say thank you for being the best and friendliest coordinator. Thank you for checking on me and making sure I was on track. With Dan West, I met more than we had to meet (twice a semester) because he created positive coordinating relationships with me. It was easy for me to meet with him when I was stressed about my GPA, credit hours, or listening to my heart while deciding on my major.

When speaking to you about my problems, you helped me by explaining how I can make practical academic plans and decisions, how to discover a range of options available to me based on my stated goals, and how to think through the consequences of my own choices. You also assisted me in the development of an academic/career plan consistent with my stated goals, interests, and abilities.

When I had an issue of dropping classes and questions about financial aid, you solved my stresses by giving me accurate information about financial aid policies.  When I asked you how to manage my time, how to overcome my stresses especially on the exam weeks you pointed out for me someone who could teach me those techniques. Thank you for making me feel confident, motivating and guiding me.

We are grateful for your hard work on helping us to be successful on our academic journey. We will surely miss you and we wish you the best of luck and we appreciate all you have done for the McNeill program.