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Advising Notes: The GAME OF THRONES Sessions

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In a recent post, I wrote up advising notes for YA characters as if they were students at the university where I worked for five years. Now that I’m thoroughly Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire obsessed, I decided to do the same for a few of Martin’s characters.

I feel the need to state that, obviously, these are embellished versions of what actual advising notes look like, lest you fear your academic record is full of mild snark.

Spoilers possible.

Sansa Stark
Sansa moved to town when she got engaged, but when that fell through, she felt stuck and hasn’t yet decided how to move forward, so she’s pretty sure she’s going to withdraw from the university soon and try to enlist the help of some friends who can help her move back with family. She says that her former in-laws-to-be have proven quite overbearing and still seem to want her to answer to them. She’s excelling in her classes despite all the stress, as it seems she’s quite capable of providing exactly the answers her professors want to hear. She’s a diligent rule-follower, and I hope this doesn’t turn into a problem for her. I gave her a card for the counseling center so she can work on her issues before she leaves.

Margaery Tyrell
Margaery is going to go far, but she needs to work on a few things. I have absolutely no doubts w/r/t her immense talents in both her majors (political science and public relations). She’s one of my brightest students and well in touch with her talents. However, I worry that she’s taking on too much without thinking it through. I worry that she sees herself succeeding but fails to take into account what it will take to maintain her success. Overconfidence may be her downfall, or else she truly is a mastermind; we shall see. She already had a list of classes chosen for next semester; all were appropriate. She “really wishes” she didn’t have to meet with me prior to registration.

Tyrion Lannister
Tyrion is a non-traditional student who is looking to make a major life change. He’s very well-read, so English or history seem the obvious choices for a major, but down the line he feels he may be interested in a more political career. He didn’t reveal too much. Very interested in starting a cyvasse club; I referred him appropriately. Something in his demeanor signaled deep sadness, so I made sure to point out the counseling center on his campus map, but I made it seem like just part of the spiel in case he took a direct referral personally.

How would you advise these or other characters?

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