10 Questions with Majestik De Luz

 10 Questions with Majestik De Luz

Do you seem to be just going through the motions? Trying to get to your classes on time. Making sure you put everything you need in your backpack for that day. Stressing so much over one class’s homework that you get behind on all the work in your other classes? 

What you need is some help coping. Someone to be your champion that will help you be successful in this next stage in your college life. That is the big difference between high school and college. 

LBCC has a whole department dedicated to academic success coaching. You can find these amazing people on the second floor of Willamette Hall. Right next to the math tutors. 

We sat down with one of their newest coaches, Majestik De Luz. She came to LBCC after graduating from Pacific University in Forest Grove with a bachelor's degree in psychology and philosophy. She is enrolled at Oregon State University and will earn her master's degree in applied ethics alongside a certificate in college/university teaching. She will graduate in 2025. 

We asked her what it is like being an “access consultant” doing academic success coaching at LBCC. She was gracious enough to find time to sit down for this interview.  

How can students take advantage of success coaching? 

We use a strength-based model. So when we meet with a student we might ask whether they prefer physical or digital learning or if they’re better at typing or handwriting. We ask about their strengths and what areas they might want our help with. For example:  How do you usually take notes in class?  How do you feel that works for you? Do you tend to doodle on your notes? Then we craft our advice to meet their strengths and preferences, such as suggesting mind-mapping as a note-taking technique.

Is that how you find out the best way to advise them based on what type of learning style they use?

Yes, a lot of students benefit from multi-modal learning, such as using audio and visual methods to learn, while others might need the audio and the tactile approach. We use the multi-modal approach to try to best meet a student’s needs and preferences. One size doesn't fit all. 

Okay, so what is the strength-based approach?

I’ll give you an example. If we have a student who comes in wanting help with note taking.  We find out if they are really creative and they’re really good at drawing, then we will suggest more creative strategies. So if they prefer digital, for example, we will look at mind-mapping programs or more visual note-taking platforms, like OneNote, where they can draw on their notes, make pictures, and insert notes. 

But, if they’re more physical and like to handwrite, we might suggest using a storyboard method where you draw pictures of different processes/concepts. Whatever their strengths are, we will align our suggestions to that.

 

Do you have a certain style of your approach to helping college students?

It’s really just having a conversation with each student. We emphasize a very holistic style in our approach; anytime we have a student come to us, the structure is individualized to match their needs. You know, they’re all very different. 

Our biggest thing is meeting the students where they’re at. Some students will meet with us once, they just need some guidance and/or resources. Some students we meet on a weekly or biweekly basis. It really just depends on what the student needs..

Where can students go to get coaching? 

You can go on the Linn-Benton website, and type in “academic success coaching” in the search bar, and you’ll find us there with instructions to book an appointment through Watermark.. We also take walk-in appointments; we’re up on the second floor of Willamette Hall (above the library) right next to the math tutors. Or, you can email us at lbcoach@linnbenton.edu. 

How do the academic coaches reach out to let students know that they’re here to help?

We’ve been doing a lot of marketing with flyers, department visits, and a little ad on the LB radio that plays the announcements. We have a little snippet on there. We also have slides on the screens all around the three campuses for our workshops that we do almost once a week every term. 

What are the other departments that you coordinate with? 

As the one who oversees the coaching program, I’ve started meeting with different departments (e.g., Math Department) to talk about what the academic success coaches can do for their students and when you send them our way. 

I plan to reach out to connect with our support services across campus and additional departments to get the information out and our presence known. Also, faculty, financial aid, and really any staff person can refer a student to us. 

Does your department coordinate with advisors to have them send students that they think need some coaching?

Yeah, some advisors are more familiar with us than others, so that’s kind of why we’re starting to go meet with everybody. It is very common for us to get referrals from advisors and vice versa because there’s some things where, while we can have answers for a lot of things and the coaches are well versed in what happens at LB, we’re very big on referring to whoever you can talk to. 

How does having all the different tutoring departments located in the same area help you and the students get the help needed?

Well, with all of the tutoring departments part of the Learning Center helps students get the help they need. We’re part of the Accessibility Resources department. I know that it helps that we’re right next to each other. It’s kind of hard to ignore each other and you know we refer students to them all the time because we don’t do content specific. We’re helping with how to study math, for example, not how to do math. That’s not our job. So we definitely refer students back and forth to each other.

What excites you the most about this job? 

Oh my gosh, there’s so many things. So in terms of the coaching aspects, I’m kind of split between coaching accessibility resources and the coaching aspect. I think I’m most excited about just getting the message of coaching out there and getting LB as a whole on the same page about what it is that we do. We're here to help you succeed. 

I expect that our numbers of students are going to increase from last year. I want to say we saw close to 200 students and so this year I definitely expect that to increase, not only with enrollment being up, but the marketing and the conversations that are being had. I am really excited about that. In terms of accessibility resources, I think I’m just excited to help students and just be a support person and a guide.

I tell my students and the coaching students that I work with that my office has snacks and drinks at all times. So anyone is always welcome to stop by. I’ve got stickers and other things. So yeah, I’m stoked to be here and to be able to be of service.

At a glance:

To contact Majestik De Luz:

Office: Red Cedar Hall Room 118 (RCH-118)

Phone: 541-917-4865

Email: deluzm@linnnbenton.edu

Website: linnbenton.edu/academic-coaching