Academic Advising Portfolio - Division of Continuing Education ...

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reaction be open to understanding this perspective and supportive of Brandon’s strengths
without conflicting with his values.
Moreover, as a student‐athlete Brandon has an additional athletic identity he must
integrate. The dual role expectations of “student and athlete” is often a primary source of
distress for students like Brandon, especially when one identity may have to be forfeited for the
benefit of the other, called identity foreclosure (Finch, 2009). Brandon’s anticipation of not
getting into engineering may be putting his student‐athlete identity at risk. He may have
integrated his self‐concept as engineering‐student‐athlete, and in anticipation of having to
choose one identity over the other (engineering student over athlete, as symbolized by his
acceptance into engineering) may be causing him to reject both prematurely, which can be
viewed as a defense mechanism. The transitions out of sport and away from an athleticidentity
are among the most stressful for student‐athletes (Ahlgren‐Bedics & Monda, 2009).
The advisor should reinforce the fact that having such a high GPA and being eligible for
engineering is a huge feat for Brandon to have accomplished, considering the training and
travel schedule for competition he has already endured (Pinkney & Tebbe, 2009).
“Support”
Although the case study does not clearly state Brandon’s family’s position, it will be
worthwhile for the advisor to seek information from Brandon related to his family’s level of
“support” and influence on his decision‐making process. Sue and Sue (2003) recommend
investigating the extent of the influence of family on Asian‐Americans’ decisions, as Asian
Americans value a family or group orientation. Given that Brandon maintains daily contact with
at least his father, the advisor could then approach the situation to find out what his family