What Working With Students Has Taught Me

Over the past five years, I’ve worked closely with tertiary students between the ages of 16 - 24. My role has involved in supporting students through their educational journey, from helping them navigate enrolment decisions to creating opportunities for engagement, connection, and success in during their student lifecycle.

While I was there to support them, I’ve often found that the students taught me just as much as I taught them. Working with young adults at this stage of life has given me a unique perspective on growth, resilience, and human nature. Here are five lessons I’ve learned along the way.

1. Success looks different for everyone

When we think about student success, it’s easy to imagine high grades, scholarships, or graduating with honours. But after working with hundreds of students, I’ve learned that success is far more personal than that.

For many students, success meant maintaining a distinction average. For others, it meant passing a difficult subject after failing it previously. Some were balancing study with full-time work, caring responsibilities, financial pressures, or adjusting to life in a new country.

Success should never be measured by a single standard. Every student starts from a different place, faces different challenges, and has different goals. What looks like a small achievement from the outside can represent an enormous personal victory.

2. Students need more encouragement than we realise

One thing that consistently surprised me was how many capable students doubted themselves. I’ve spoken with students who were intelligent, hardworking, and talented, yet were convinced they weren’t good enough. This is where I realised, that all it took was a conversation, a few words of reassurance, or someone acknowledging their efforts for their confidence to shift.

We often assume people know their strengths, but many don’t. Encouragement is something we tend to underestimate because it seems simple. Yet it can be the difference between someone giving up and someone deciding to keep going.

The experience has made me more intentional about recognising effort, celebrating progress, and reminding people of what they’re capable of.

3. Building a strong community matters

University is often viewed as a place to gain knowledge, but I believe one of its most important functions is helping people find connection.

The students who felt most supported weren’t always the ones with the highest grades. They were often the students who had found a sense of belonging whether through clubs, student leadership programs, study groups, events, or meaningful friendships.

Humans are social by nature. We all want to feel seen, understood, and connected to something larger than ourselves. Having worked with students and being able to support them in building their community serves as a powerful reminder that the need for connection extends far beyond academic success.

4. Young people are more resilient than we think

I’ve worked with students who have navigated significant challenges. Many experienced disruptions to their studies, financial stress, uncertainty about their future, family pressures, or the difficulties of moving away from home.

Yet time and time again, I witnessed remarkable resilience. Through my experience, resilience doesn’t always look dramatic. It takes quiet forms; sometimes it looks like showing up to class when motivation is low. Sometimes it’s submitting an assignment despite self-doubt. Sometimes it’s asking for help when things become overwhelming.

Young people are often criticised for being fragile or unprepared for the real world. My experience has been quite the opposite. Given the right support, they consistently demonstrate adaptability, determination, and an impressive ability to recover from setbacks.

5. Students need good guidance and direction during this transition

One of the biggest misconceptions about young adults is that they should already know what they’re doing. No one enters adulthood with all the answers. Stepping into the real world unprepared is terrifying, mostly because it happens before you even realise it.

The reality is that the years between 16 and 23 involve countless decisions. Choosing a course. Deciding on a career. Managing finances. Building relationships. Learning independence. Navigating failure. Discovering personal values.

Many students that I’ve met are making major life decisions for the very first time. I’ve learned that guidance is not about telling people what to do. It’s about helping them explore their options, ask better questions, and feel confident enough to make decisions for themselves. Students don’t need someone to provide all the answers. They need someone willing to listen, share perspective, and help them make sense of an unfamiliar world.

What I love about working with students

Working with students has reminded me that growth is rarely straightforward.

Behind every student is a unique story, a different set of challenges, and a personal definition of success. They have taught me the value of encouragement, the importance of community, the power of resilience, and the role that guidance plays during life’s transitional years.

Most importantly, they’ve reminded me that no matter our age, we’re all still learning, growing, and figuring things out as we go.

I’ve never got to thank each and everyone of my students personally, so this goes out to you all.

♡ Carmen