Jennifer Riddick

Bio

As an honors academic counselor, I aim to support students by helping them navigate the honors college resources, creating safe spaces to help them discover their passions, and providing students with the tools to develop a plan to complete their unique SPICE experiences. I want to help students embrace the honors experiential learning curriculum and strive to discover new ways to turn their ideas and passions into lifelong careers.

I was born and raised in the small town of Vacaville, California. I received my B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology in 2020 from Southern Oregon University and my M.A. in Postsecondary Educational Leadership in 2023 from San Diego State University. My professional experience has centered around higher education and student affairs for the past five years, and I have worked in various institutions across California and Oregon. My passions include student success, retention, leadership, career development, and service learning.

In my free time, I love to go to the theater, travel, discover new restaurants for my food blog, and hang out with my friends and family. I also enjoy anime, all things disney, finding new recipes to cook, and teaching dance classes to students of all ages in tap, jazz, musical theater, and hip-hop styles.

Engaged Living  

To embrace and challenge your perspectives of the world and gain an appreciation for other cultures, traveling is the best way to immerse yourself in exploring cultural differences. The world is full of different languages, cultures, phenomena, beliefs, etc., and exploring different parts of the world can help us grow in our cultural awareness, communication, and values. My goal is to help students find deeper meaning in their traveling experience and better understand how it relates to their professional development goals and field of study. Having traveled abroad several times, I encourage all students to take advantage of institutions' traveling resources. I am excited to help students apply, research, and prepare for their study abroad experiences within the UTSA Honors College.

Skill Development

Having received my Master's degree in educational leadership, I am passionate about teaching different leadership theories, techniques, and skills. Last year, I instructed a first-year leadership seminar class on the fundamentals of leadership and furthering students' development of their personal leadership competencies. Teaching this course sparked my passion for teaching, and I plan to continue furthering my knowledge of leadership foundations while teaching students how to put these skills toward their professional and personal growth.

Research  

Regarding research, I am interested in delving into the power of affinity groups in creating a strong sense of community on college campuses. I want to eventually conduct more research on how creating a culture through affinity groups can lead to positive outcomes for student success and retention and foster a sense of belonging through diverse familiar spaces. I hope to collaborate with students across UTSA to research the deeper purpose of affinity groups and how students utilize them to create supportive and inclusive safe spaces for learning. 

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