Michelle Kalus

I tend tailor my approach to the student sitting in front of me at each moment, to meet each student where they are.

Margo Hendricks, the Provost at Stevenson College. After I graduated from UCSC I had no idea what to do next. Since I had worked at Stevenson as a student, Margo reached out to me when she needed to temporarily replace a member of her staff. After the three months were up, she encouraged me to apply for a new advising position that was opening up as she felt that perhaps advising was my calling. It didn't hurt that I had read the entire UCSC catalog as a Frosh!

I love helping students figure out how to clear barriers to their goals and dreams. One of my favorite things is when I am working with a student and I see their face change from defeated to hopeful over the course of our conversation. So many of our students arrive with countless impediments in their path, helping them clear as many as I can is why I am here.

Having answers to questions. Every time a student (or really anyone) asks me a question that I either already know the answer or know exactly where to find the answer, I do a happy dance.

Indonesian Dance. I have taken many different kinds of dance classes but this dance was particularly amazing because that is where I learned that Indonesian folk dance was based on puppetry. It made such a huge impression on me that I still remember many of the hand movements 20 years later.

While attending a Buddhist retreat in Thailand, we were each given a job to help maintain temple. In the dorms, instead of showers, there were huge basins of water that we would dip handled bowls in and dump the water over our heads in the outdoor common area. There were wide gutters where the water would pool and it was my job to take a water broom and sweep the water to the drain at the far end of the common area. Unexpectedly, this came in very handy later in life as I now use a Thai water broom to sweep the water to the drain in the Washerwomen basin at the Renaissance Faire.

If something isn't working for you, try something else. Don't keep going down the same path over and over again. I have countless struggling students tell me that their plan to succeed this time is to "try harder". Try tutoring, try a new major, try scheduling your study time, try anything - but try something else.

I am big into crafting (crochet/knit, origami, sewing, etc.), costumes/cosplay/Disney-bounding, gaming (board and video mostly), playing music (ukulele, bass, and singing), dancing, consuming sci-fi and fantasy media in all forms. Collecting hobbies might actually be my favorite hobby.