Academic Advising Portfolio - Division of Continuing Education ...

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Case Study 2: Brandon Phuong
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
‐ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Brandon Phuong grew up on the West Coast and has traveled across the country to your
New England small‐college institution. Brandon is assigned to you as your advisee, and when
you first meet him he seems very quiet and shy. He is of Asian‐American descent and speaks
softly, and feels uncomfortable making eye contact with you. However, he is very friendly and
is doing well in his classes, earning a 3.6 cumulative GPA. When you ask him a question, he
does not immediately respond but rather looks away and takes his time in formulating an
answer. In the spring semester of his sophomore year, he comes to you to talk about major
options as a back‐up just in case he is not accepted into his intended major of engineering. By
the end of the spring semester he will need to have a minimum 3.2 cumulative GPA to continue
in engineering. Although Brandon tells you he is earning A’s in all of his classes, he is still very
worried about getting into the school of engineering. Furthermore, Brandon asks you if you
think he should quit the swim team because of the training and competition schedule possibly
interfering with his studies. Brandon has won several awards for swimming and diving and he is
realistic about professional swimming not being part of his future career. However, Brandon
has expressed to you in the past that he has been swimming all of his life and derives great
satisfaction from it. Before he enters your office for your meeting, you overhear him speaking
to his father on the phone before your appointment begins in a foreign language.