CSA-Student
CernySmith Student (CSA-S)
helping students answer the question “How are you doing?”
A Student’s CSA Story:
“I was supposed to be enjoying my semester abroad in Uganda, Africa, Who could not love it here? A beautiful people, beautiful scenery and amazing wildlife….so why was I not able to feel good about being here. My studies were not that tough and I loved studying African culture. I talked with my instructor and he encouraged me to take the CSA. I went online and finished it in about 20 minutes. The next day he came to me and said he would like to go over the results. I cannot tell you the surprise when he put the chart of 20 scales in front of me. He first went over what he called my strengths – I was a bit surprised that I was doing a lot better than I thought when it came to transitioning to African culture. He helped me realize that I had been pretty hard on myself.
The shocker came when we went over my three main “challenges”, (I loved the thought of them being called challenges – challenges motivate me). It was so cool to identify exactly what my concerns were. It helped me articulate the reasons I was struggling. He then gave me some suggestions to increase my skills in these areas, and to make a long story …it worked! It gave me more confidence, and helped me adjust faster. My only regret is I did not take the CSA earlier. Do yourself a favor and take it as soon as you can – don’t waste one single day.
