Nikki Xiong

Academic Spotlight

Student Discovers Major Through Mentoring

“I am able to use my personal experience of declaring my major to help my mentees through RAMP. This personal experience helps me professionally.”

Ready to explore:

As Nikki arrived at Humboldt as a freshman, he hadn’t yet decided on a major. He spoke to his academic advisor who helped him choose classes which would be appropriate to explore his interests and help him choose a major. He thought beginning his time in college as ‘undeclared’ was beneficial. “I learned it’s good to explore options if you don’t know what to major in.. I encourage people to take classes other than GEs as well as GEs to figure out their interests.”

Diverse interests:

Nikki was intrigued by communications, psychology, and sociology. He took classes in these areas, and found that communications resonated most with him after he took several classes.

Getting involved:

The Academic and Career Advising Center helped Nikki polish his resume to make the most out of career-related experiences while in college. He participated in the Youth Educational Services , the Asian, Desi, Pacific Islander Collective, and Canyon Residence Council. He got a job as a mentor in RAMP, the Retention through Academic Mentoring Program. He found that his experience choosing a major helped him to mentor undeclared freshmen. Nikki’s major coursework and experience helped him develop communication skills and created opportunities to network with people in the Humboldt community.

His advice to others:

“Get involved! Explore! Use the Academic and Career Advising Center services. Make new connections. Make good impressions with

people