Tulsa Community College hosts various student orientation sessions across the summer to acclimate incoming and prospective students to the TCC community and available resources.
Behind these sessions is Nash McQuarters. He is the new student orientation coordinator. He has an evidently deep passion for higher education that has led him to pursue his current position.
In a brief yet earnest conversation, we unveil the heart behind the brilliant visionary, gaining some insight into his expertise in higher education.
TCC Connection: How did your journey to becoming a new student orientation coordinator begin?
Nash McQuarters: It’s funny cause I work in orientation now. I was an orientation leader in high school, and then I was an orientation leader in college. The high school and college orientation leader experience got me interested in this and that’s also what kind of what got me into higher ed. I majored in sociology, so one of the things I like about that is that you can do so many things with it as long as you’re working with people, and I like the atmosphere of working in college settings, so I applied to TCC. I started working at TCC after I graduated college. So, when this position opened up in 2019, I wanted it, so I just put in the application for it, gave [the] best interview I could and got the position.
TCC Connection: What is your main vision for orientation, and how do you think that benefits incoming students?
Nash McQuarters: I always say that orientation is the last step of admission, but the first step to retention. I think orientation gives students a baseline of what to expect in college. It teaches them the fundamental terminology, the process, [and] how it works because it’s so different from high school. Or, if they are an adult student, coming back to school can be a little daunting at times, and so it helps them understand the process and what’s going on. It has been proven to help students succeed and finish until graduation because they know about the resources.
Without orientation, our retention rates were much lower, and students didn’t know about certain things that were offered. They didn’t know how TCC worked. We even have orientation leaders on staff who admit that they didn’t go to orientation, and they didn’t know about any of this until they started working here.
TCC Connection: Why are you so interested in higher education?
Nash McQuarters: I am an advocate for education. I think college is important. Right now, there are a lot of people who think that college is not necessary. Or people think that college is a place to just get a job in the future, but I think differently about that. I think college is a place where you can learn and grow as a person, and I think it teaches people how to overcome struggles. It teaches people how to work with other people that they may not have similar interests with. It teaches them how to challenge themselves, and that is why I like education and college so much.
TCC Connection: How is your view about higher education antithetical to the new American Dream, whose narrative often dismisses the importance of a college education by offering alternative routes to various versions of what success could look like?
Nash McQuarters: I get discouraged when I see a lot of people post anti-college material or statements because they’re only viewing college in one way: as a place to make money which I know a lot of people, that’s their goal, but that doesn’t teach us as a society how to be better.
TCC Connection: Is there anything you do outside of TCC to advocate for higher education?
Nash McQuarters: I am a member of the National Orientation Directors Association, which is an association for orientation, transition, and retention, and it’s all about getting students to college and then helping them through college. I attend meetings to kind of help our orientation process. So we share information about skills to organize orientation, but we also talk about how to help certain populations. For example, there may be a session about how to help students who are placed into developmental classes. Their process is a little harder, so what can we do as staff to help [the students] to achieve? There are lots of ones about international students and students who are undocumented. It goes more into helping the student as a whole.
I was just given the regional award for Orientation Professional of the Year. I got that award in March, and now I get to go to the national conference in October and see if I [can] get the national award for it.
TCC Connection: What would you describe as your life’s purpose?
Nash McQuarters: That is a good question. My life’s purpose is to be a kind human being and help the world be better, however I can, and my way is through higher education or through the arts because I do theater on the side, and I believe that it’s important. It helps people whether they are in the show or viewing the show. I think theater can talk to people in a way that’s different from a lecture or a therapy session, which are good, but you can go to a theater to see a show; whether it’s just for two hours. You forget your problems, or you are able to learn something. I went to a show that had me thinking outside of my normal self, and I love when theaters or shows do that.
TCC Connection: What has been your favorite project to work on in theatrical contexts so far?
Nash McQuarters: The [most fun] show I’ve done was called “Dream Girls,” where I played Jimmy Earling. That was fun for me as a person. The deepest show I have ever done was a show called “Top Dog Underdog.” It’s about two brothers who live with each other and are struggling in New York City, and it’s a nice play that can get you into your feelings. I like those kinds of shows.
TCC Connection: Where do you see yourself in five years?
Nash McQuarters: I stopped giving myself timelines, and I’m now focusing on just seeing where it goes. So, I don’t personally like to set goals like that. I would love to one day work on Broadway, that would be great, but I won’t try to give myself a timeline like I need to do that in two years, seven years. If it happens, it does, if it doesn’t, that’s fine. Whenever it does, I’ll take it.
TCC Connection: What legacy would you like to leave behind both personally and professionally?
Nash McQuarters: Personally, it’s to be kind to people. For my professional, it is ‘do your best’. I try to do my best when at work. No one is perfect, but strive to be the best you can be, and I try to show that to my staff as well as my colleagues.
For more information about student orientation services at Tulsa Community College, visit https://www.tulsacc.edu/new-student-orientation.
