Around 80 percent of students in the United States end up changing their major at least once, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Those stats resonate with Jason Roscoe who didn’t know what career he wanted to pursue either, when he enrolled as an undergraduate at Mansfield University located in Pennsylvania.
“I initially started out as a biology major and realized that the math that was involved, it wasn’t going to work out for me,” said Roscoe, who is the department chair of Academic Advising at the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP). “Then I actually changed to special education and then ultimately landed in criminal justice because I did have a genuine interest.”
During this time at Mansfield, Roscoe was also a three-sport athlete, participating on the basketball, football and track teams. Someone who Roscoe said helped him in this time of uncertainty was his adviser, who exposed him to the impact that academic advising can have on a students’ trajectory.
He recalls his adviser “getting on my case and calling me and having me come into her office constantly” in part attracted him to the profession, he said.
After earning his master’s degree in higher education at Mansfield, Roscoe was hired by his former adviser to be an academic advising faculty member at the university. He also was the director of Mansfield’s minority mentoring program.
In 2016, he left his alma mater — upon receiving both tenure and promotion — to join the Community College of Philadelphia. It was a decision that left many in awe, Roscoe recalled.
