Garrett and Max: A Student Success Story

You’re new at school. Maybe you’re a freshman, arriving on the heels of graduation, or a transfer student looking to make the most of a few remaining semesters.

Either way, transition is tough sometimes, particularly in a new academic environment. Enter the Student Success Team.

The staff of the Mosher Success Center at Tennessee Wesleyan is dedicated to one thing: Student Success. Coaches provide support to help students of all backgrounds and with all levels of academic experience. Coaches like Max.

Max and Garrett started working together in the fall of 2019, after Garrett transferred to TWU following the closure of Hiwassee College. After a college baseball career led Garrett to Hiwassee, and with a few academic challenges along the way, he is now set to graduate from TWU this coming spring.

“What I do in the Success Center is meet with students on one on one basis,” said Max Seisser, one of the TWU Student Success Coaches. “Students are referred by faculty and staff, based on the students’ academic performance, or sometimes students just need a little bit of extra help outside the classroom.”

“We will meet with (students), try and figure out what the root of the issue is that they’re facing, and how can we best support them. That could be setting up a planner or looking at their time management, talking about classes or even assignments and help them get organized and put everything together.”

“I consider him like a big brother,” said Garrett of his Success Coach, Max. “But not a big brother to hold a grudge or make me feel like I have to be here. I can come tell him about my personal problems, a lot of our meetings, that’s what it is. I don’t even need to come see him most Mondays, but I know it’ll be good for me.”

“Max is more than just a coach, more than just a tutor, it’s more in depth than that. I’ll invite him to my graduation, I will consider him one of the people that helped me graduate.”