Most of all, he wants his students to know that they’re not alone. People, he says, “start feeling like they’ll quit. He wants them to know that they can keep going, despite the obstacles that life sometimes throws in the way. He wants all his students, including disabled, veteran, and family-oriented students, to know that he’s been where they are. He doesn’t hesitate to tell about his own educational and personal experiences, which includes the painful experiences of navigating his stepfather’s death or his son’s autism diagnosis. “By that I mean: use your legs to stand up, walk around your desk and walk out the door, and visit people. “It takes legwork, true legwork,” Willis says. Students have offices, he says: in the library or the gym or the Union. What are you passionate about? Where are you from? Where have you been?”įorging those relationships always starts with listening, with going out and meeting students where they are. He wants students to know that he cares about them, “I ask students: tell me about you. “People don’t really care how much you know until they know how much you care,” he says. Brazell-her care and concern inspired him to do the same for the students he works with. His philosophy has grown out of his own experiences, from his childhood memories of his close-knit family to his experiences with his own mentor, Dr. in 2016.įor Willis, relationships are the most vital part of his life, including his work life. He now holds a Master’s degree and a Graduate Certificate, and is on track to complete his Ph.D. Brazell bet on Willis, however, and helped him make the transition. Willis knew he needed to attend graduate school to provide the life he wanted for his son, but his grades didn’t recommend him. Though he wasn’t a stellar student, she spotted the potential within him and encouraged him to get involved with different student organizations.Īs Willis entered his senior year, he found a new reason to apply himself: the arrival of his son, Jaalon. Brazell, the vice-chancellor of the University of Arkansas, as his mentor and “second mom.” While he attended the University of Arkansas, they met once a month, where she challenged him to think more critically about his educational career. Though he had no roadmap to higher education, he did have a mentor to help him navigate. Take advantage of open option,” he reassures. Go to info-sessions, volunteer, do internships, take elective classes. Today, Willis offers students the advice he wishes he’d had-strategies to explore without wasting time and money. We should’ve gone into the car salesman business, because we were really good at selling each other ideas that made no sense at all.” “I changed my major twenty times,” he says. However, the experience was a shock: the public university was an easy place to get lost. In deference to his mother’s concerns, he stayed close to home, choosing to attend the University of Arkansas on a scholarship. He was accepted into several colleges, including Morehouse College, his school of choice. Willis handwrote letters to colleges asking for advice, and when his family went to the library, he researched how to ace the ACT and how to get into college.Īll that effort paid off. Carson’s stories of resilience, education and career excellence resonated with Willis, who finally recognized university education as an option. Carson’s tale of education and career excellence inspired Willis. In the ninth grade, Willis read Gifted Hands by Ben Carson, and saw himself reflected in words: like Willis, Carson was an African-American man with an active childhood and a hard-working mother. His parents were high-school graduates that instilled Willis with a sense of resilience and an appreciation for hard work. His family lived in a quaint country house on a dirt road, where he contributed by picking peas in the summer for the farmer’s market or raising cute piglets that became not-so-cute hogs. His education in valuing people of all different backgrounds began with his rural Arkansas childhood. “I want it to be a transformational experience-getting to know people, encouraging them, really valuing people.” But the most important thing he does is simply assist students.Ĭoming to CES “is not a transactional experience,” he says. Every day, he offers students help with job and internship searches, mock interviews, cover letters and graduate school applications. For Quantrell Willis, the Career and Employment Services liaison to the College of Arts & Sciences, helping hands aren’t limited to Wednesdays. The sandwich board outside Career and Employment Services proclaims “Walk-in Wednesday”-a familiar sight to any K-State student.
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