Meet Sydney Russell | Graduate Student – Higher Education Administration

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sydney Russell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sydney, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Because I want to have the most impact, I’m motivated to continuously improve myself professionally, socially, physically, and mentally. I surround myself with people who also are committed to growth for both themselves and people they care about. I regularly recruit feedback from these people for how I can handle a conversation better, how I can improve my public speaking skills, etc. I trust feedback from these people, so I always assume good intentions.
I’ve also learned how to process my emotions quickly surrounding feedback. Of course, it’s okay to be a little upset when you hear some tough feedback. But the sooner you can accept constructive criticism and make a game plan for how to move forward, the sooner you can get to work on doing better next time.
Lastly, I understand that it’s okay to be wrong, and sometimes it’s good to be wrong to grow from it. A mistake doesn’t define you, but how you choose to handle that mistake does. Owning my errors and being resilient in working through them is how I’ve been able to grow and keep moving forward.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I worked for a startup my Senior year of college, and I loved the fast-paced environment, being in the middle of creating something new, and the iterative process of coming up with an idea, testing it, seeing the outcome, and pivoting as needed. When I left the organization – which was right before college graduation – I knew I wanted these elements in my next job. I also knew I wanted to use my newfound innovative skills for social good. Shortly after, I started serving with Carolina College Advising Corps where I worked at a high school in rural NC to support Seniors with making their post-secondary plans. For the vast majority of Seniors, their first meeting with me in my tiny office covered in colorful college pennants was their first time talking about their plans for life after graduation. We worked together to identify their goals and dreams, then we hit the ground running with the college application process. Seeing the students grow was easily my favorite part of the role. But a close second was applying the skills I learned through the startup to be efficient and adaptable to the needs of the school. Using data and my understanding of students’ wants, needs, and motivators, I created initiatives to engage students with all parts of the college application process. From assessing which initiatives increased FAFSA submissions to building relationships that I still maintain today, I constantly adjusted my efforts to meet the changing needs of students and their families. Being adaptive meant I was more effective in my job, allowing me to have a wider reach, host more meaningful events for students, and spend more time having those important college conversations with students earlier in high school.
I am grateful to my startup experience for providing me with an understanding of innovation. And I am indebted to my college advising experience for showing me the most important outcome of innovation: success and growth of people. Now that I’m in my second year of a Master’s in Higher Education, I hope to continue to apply my entrepreneurial spirit to enhance the wellbeing and success of students throughout my career.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We’d kick off the week with an NC State-themed day, starting with breakfast at the Farmer’s Market Restaurant. Then we’d walk around Centennial Campus, swinging by the Albright Entrepreneurship eGarage to check out the makerspace and coworking space. We’d head over to Dix Park to throw a frisbee. We’d end the day with meeting my grad school friends for dinner and drinks at Player’s Retreat, my all-time favorite Raleigh spot.
The next day, we’d hike at Umstead Park, stopping along the way to eat sandwiches we’d packed from La Farm Bakery in Cary. We’d end the night sitting outside at Bond Brothers Beer Company.
We’d have to visit Chapel Hill one day to walk around my alma mater then explore Battle Park and Coker Arboretum. We couldn’t leave Chapel Hill without grabbing a blue cup at He’s Not Here.
We’d spend another day hitting my other Raleigh favs: tennis at Pullen Park, lunch at Irregardless Cafe, find the best-smelling rose at the Raleigh Rose Garden, late afternoon walk and sunset picnic at the North Carolina Museum of Art, evening drinks at Johnson Street Yacht Club, and a comedy show at Goodnights Comedy Club.
We’d venture to Durham on Friday to attend Counter Culture Coffee’s Tasting at Ten to enjoy a cup and learn about where their coffee comes from. Then we’d tour American Underground, a coworking space geared towards nonprofits and startups. (I did both of these with entrepreneurship students recently, and we had a blast). Head to Viceroy for dinner then end the night a Durham Bulls game, catching the Friday night fireworks

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I dedicate my shoutout to two organizations I’ve been fortunate to work with. First, to Carolina College Advising Corps, an organization that does phenomenal, life-changing work across the state to increase access to higher education for low-income, first generation, and under-served high school students. I’m so grateful for spending two years with incredible students in Henderson, NC. I learned so much from my time with them, with the biggest lesson being there will always be room for improvement in education. I want to have a hand in that improvement throughout my career.
Second, I dedicate this shoutout to Innovation and Entrepreneurship at NC State, a unit that immerses college students in the Triangle entrepreneurial ecosystem, providing them with a wealth of resources, connections, and support to build their dream from the ground up. When my time working at a startup ended, I knew I wanted to use my experience to guide aspiring entrepreneurs. Working at NC State Innovation & Entrepreneurship while pursuing my Master’s has allowed me to do just that.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydney-russell

Image Credits
The headshot was taken by Melanie Busbee