Sophia Bolin-Dills
Director
Student Affairs, McNair Scholars Program
Sophia's Coaching Mindset: "I believe coaching utilizes deep listening to empower students seeking to build a happy, healthy, and successful future."
Higher Education Background:
- Bachelor's- Business Administration, The University of Oklahoma.
- Master's-Human Relations, The University of Oklahoma.
- PhD- Geography, The University of Oklahoma.
Interests and Hobbies:
- Day hiking.
- Organic gardening.
- Spending time with family and friends.
Top Life Defining Moments in Higher Education:
- Having to recover from a 1.75 GPA my first semester in college. Working while in college was not ideal, but I continued to do so while earning all of my degrees.
- Finding my academic passion as a senior taking a general education class. Spoiler alert.... it was not my major, so I added two minors to my academic plan. (Geography and Environmental Studies).
- Learning in graduate school to ask for help and utilize campus resources. (Shout out to OU Writing Center!)
- As a first-generation college doctoral student, completing a PhD required the support of my doctoral advisor, dissertation committee, community members, friends, co-workers, and family.
While in college, I experienced:
- Balancing work and school.
- Difficulty managing a successful study system.
- Financial Stress.
- Overcoming daily challenges through resiliency.
- Academic motivation challenges.
- Other- Imposter syndrome.
