New Aid Officer’s Workshop Is An Exceptional Experience
By Brandy Henry, Texas Woman’s University, Senior Financial Aid Adviser

The New Aid Officer’s Training Workshop at St. Mary’s University was an educational experience in order for financial aid employees to be able to expand their knowledge in regards to the financial aid process. I had an exceptional experience with being able to network with various individuals located all over the great state of Texas. I met various employees ranging from lenders, the THECB, TG, to financial aid officers working at various universities and community colleges. I am currently a proud alumnus of Texas Woman’s University and a single mother of three children from a small hometown of Denton, TX. I was exceptionally grateful to be chosen to represent an astounding college along with my co-workers, Rhonda Burrus (Loan Collections Coordinator) and Brigid Corbett (Scholarship Coordinator). I currently serve in the position of a Financial Aid Adviser and I manage the front counter.

I was extremely appreciative with the guidance and leadership that the committee contributed to the TASFAA Conference. They were available at any given moment starting from the time that we left to attend the conference through the different skits that were developed with each team member. The group that attended the conference was an exciting, outstanding, and fun group. I think it started with the motto that was created in the beginning of the conference which included motivation. As one-half of the room would say, “MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY,” (OK…YOU KNOW WHAT’S NEXT.….) the other half of the room would shout with enthusiasm, “MONEY.” Everyone contributed in helping out each other by spending hours developing strategies to gain knowledge regarding the financial aid process through plays, acting out game shows, singing and demonstrating how to handle difficult students with a comical twist.

The impact that the conference encompassed included issues from Team Building, Communicating with the Millennial Student, Financial Aid Packaging, and Dealing with Challenging and Difficult Students on a daily basis. Several aspects that I was able to gain through the workshop were identifying how financial aid works and realizing that everyone has their own particular duties that can be sometimes overwhelming. I have a greater respect for each of my co-workers in my office in realizing that each person contributes his or her own unique technique and ideas in order to complete the awarding process for the students of their university.

By advancing my knowledge through this workshop, I believe the most important aspect overall is the knowledge that we were able to gain in order to help students achieve their success and alleviate the barriers with the financial aid process. I recommend this training to any person just beginning their career and even the more experienced financial aid officers because networking and developing leadership skills are one of the keys to a successful future.