Abby Gonzales, student success coach at The Center for Student Success, talks to a classroom of students about ways to make the best of their time during the inaugural session of Toolkit Tuesday on Sept. 1 inside the Library.

Students at Texas A&M University-Victoria now have a new way to support their academic journey and connect with one another through a new initiative launched by The Center for Student Success.

Toolkit Tuesday, a peer-to-peer learning series, will be led by the university’s success coaches and student support staff. The new initiative was introduced to a classroom filled with nearly 30 students by Abby Gonzales, student success coach at The Center for Student Success, during its inaugural showing on Sept. 1 inside the Library.

The series is planned to run every other Tuesday until the end of the term with its next session scheduled for Sept. 15. The sessions are planned to run 1-2 p.m. and will be located in the Library Instruction Lab inside University Commons, Room 2103.

Besides Gonzales, Heather Crow, Center for Student Success coordinator; Daniel White, interim executive director of Student Success; and success coach Roman Torres were also present during Tuesday’s event to talk to students about the nuisances they can experience in their college career and how to alleviate some of those that can cause stress.

“It’s an opportunity for students to learn from other students, and it’s also an opportunity for students to teach other students,” Gonzales said. “It’s about building community and learning those skills of reaching out to each other and asking for help.”

Toolkit Tuesday is not replacing the long-running Workshop Wednesday but rather expanding the options available to students, Gonzales said. Toolkit Tuesday leans into a more informal, conversational model where students share what has worked for them, such as study strategies, time management tips, campus resources and more with their peers.

One of the driving factors behind Toolkit Tuesday was a desire to reach students who could not attend the existing Wednesday workshops because of their course schedule or other commitments, Gonzales said. A key feature of Toolkit Tuesday is that the sessions are facilitated by Jagvocates, tutors and writing consultants who are all students. Each session will have a different topic, and students will be informed of the sessions via email sent intermediately by Heather Crow.

“Students are responsible for their own success,” Gonzales said. “And we want to make sure they have the tools they need to ensure that success.”

Ovi Daluwatte

As an international student who arrived from Sri Lanka, Ovi Daluwatte remembers just how overwhelming her first couple of days at A&M-Victoria felt.

Now in her senior year, the psychology major has transformed that early uncertainty into a passion for helping others navigate the same transition through her role as a Jagvocate.

Coming into her fourth semester as a Jagvocate at The Student Success Center, she is one of the first points of contact for students who walk in with questions, concerns or worries. In her role, she works to assist students by connecting them to key campus resources, from financial aid to academic support and beyond.

In addition to in-person support, she and her fellow Jagvocates field phone calls from students seeking assistance with scheduling appointments with their advisors or resolving basic technical issues, she said.

Daluwatte remembers her own experience of feeling lost on campus as a new student. That feeling changed when she walked into The Center for Student Success for the first time. At the center, she attended a supplemental instruction session for a philosophy course where she recalled meeting fellow students, connecting with staff members and realized the center was more than just a place to study, she said.

Through those early interactions, she not only found friends but also discovered a sense of belonging and purpose, she said. That experience ultimately led her to become a Jagvocate herself to create the same welcoming environment for others.

“Students shouldn’t hesitate to come to the Success Center,” Daluwatte said. “Tutoring and all of those resources, it’s already included in your tuition. Use them and take advantage of your resources.”