Ep. 9 - Aysha Haq - Emerging Voices

🎙️ Empowering Students & Advisors with Aysha Haq

In this episode of Emerging Voices, Matt and Bri sit down with the inspiring Aysha Haq, a passionate advisor and leader with over 25 years of experience in higher education across the U.S. and Canada. From her start at the University of Washington to her current role as Degree Advisor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Aysha shares her journey, her love for helping students find their path, and how she empowers both students and advisors to thrive.

Tune in for stories of unexpected conference connections, what makes advising at a polytechnic so unique (hint: it involves horses 🐎 and cars 🚗), and how football fandom sneaks into her advising philosophy. Whether you’re curious about the NACADA Emerging Leaders Program or just love hearing about advisors who make a difference, this episode is packed with encouragement, laughter, and a whole lot of heart.

*Emerging Voices is a spinoff of the Adventures in Advising podcast!

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Transcript

Matt Markin  
All right, and welcome back to another episode of Emerging Voices, where we interview those within the NACADA Emerging Leaders Program. My name is Matt Markin, and as always, I'm joined by...

Bri Harvie  
I'm Bri Harvie.

Matt Markin  
And we have a special guest today, and that guest is none other than the wonderful Aysha Haq. Aysha Haq has over 25 years experience working at post secondary in Canada and the United States. She has worked as a program assistant transfer credit coordinator, and over 15 years as an academic advisor in multiple faculties and departments, most recently as interim manager of academic advising at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, she has recently returned to her role as a degree advisor in the Faculty of Arts at KPU, Aysha shares a passion for academic advising and works to foster an environment where advisors are equipped with up to date knowledge and skills to help them thrive and empower their students. She has completed consecutive two year terms on NACADA region eight as the BC liaison. Is currently serving as the chair of the NACADA Canada advising community and as a member of the 2024-26 NACADA Emerging Leaders Program. Aysha, welcome

Aysha Haq  
Yay. Thank you.

Matt Markin  
So amazing. Bio. I think this would be a fun interview, so let's kind of expand upon that. Tell us a little bit more about you. What's your journey been like in higher ed what's what's your origin story like? 

Aysha Haq  
So, you know, I started long, long time ago in a galaxy, far, far away, at the University of Washington and and was a working in the Student Services offices, program assistant. And one of the things that I really loved about that was working with students. I feel like most of my time was just spent chatting with them, talking to them, helping them get through whatever it was that they were trying to get through. And so when I moved to Canada and was looking for, you know, something, a new role and a different role, the university was near my house, and I was like, you know, I really like universities. I think I'm going to need to go back into this. And my first job was as an international academic advisor, and that was even more fun for me, because then I was working with international students, and I just found them fascinating and and from that, I went into transfer credit, and then that was more paperwork, bureaucratic. It was great to get the back end of what goes down, you know, at the university, and still a big part of helping students get that journey, you know, started at the university, but I really, I really needed to get back to working with students directly, and so that's what led me back to academic advising. And that's really, that's my happy place, I think. So I really enjoy that.

Bri Harvie  
That's awesome. And I mean, I have to tell you, I have worked with you for a long time now in various capacities, and I learned, learned via your bio that you started at the University of Washington. I had no idea that you come from the States first, so that was a wild thing that I got to learn after this many years. But I would be curious to hear what your thoughts are on like, what's the difference between student services in in the States and Canada, and how you're navigating that, that difference?

Aysha Haq  
It's interesting, because, honestly, I don't feel the difference in the sense that it's like the same goal. It's the same thing that we're, you know, we were trying to do there, that I'm trying to do here, helping students get to that end result, whatever that is for them, obviously, at the law school, you know, they're trying to get their law degree, and that's where I was, and so that's that goal. And now it can be as simple as somebody just wants to take a few classes because they're transferring out. They want to learn about something, or they're trying to complete a program. In that sense, I just find that all to be just the same thing. And you know, I'm working with international students who are coming from students who are coming from other countries, same goal. They just, they they're trying to do the thing that they're trying to do in education. You know, they want to get it done in the best way possible for them, whatever that might look like for them. And and I think being in either being in the US or being in Canada, I found that to be really just, just the easiest. This was a very easy sort of transition for me to go from student services in the US to student services working with students in Canada as well, too.

Matt Markin  
So Bri was mentioning that you both know each other for a number of years. So I guess for both of you to answer, when did you all first meet? How is that? How's that developed over the years?

Aysha Haq  
Can I tell you my memory of that three? Okay, so it was the conference in Phoenix, the annual conference in Phoenix, and I had, and I had thought to myself at that time, I want to get to know a little bit more about region eight, because. In Region eight. So I went to the region eight business meeting, and I remember you were there, and she was there as well, too, and she was the chair of the Canada advising community. And I thought I was connecting with the BC region. And then she was there too. And then she found out that, you know, because we all introduced ourselves, I was like, yes, and I'm from Canada, and so, you know, I'm coming from BC, and somehow, for the after social event, the both region eight and Canada were doing their event at the same place. So I went to the place to have the social event. But because I hadn't seen you guys, I came over and I sat down next to you, actually, and I and I thought that I was with region eight, but it turned out I was with Canada. And so as I talked to Shea, I had no idea what I was doing other than, yes, I want to join. And she was like, come on board. I was like, I'm ready, not knowing what I was coming on board to thinking it was one thing, but it was another thing. And then it wound up being both things. And and you were, I want to see you are both things too. And so that's my memory of that.

Bri Harvie  
Hey, that was Louisville.

Aysha Haq  
Yes, yes, that's right.

Bri Harvie  
And I was like, I didn't go to Phoenix, so I would love to know where this is going. So that's hilarious because I did the same thing as you did, and went to the wrong table because I got my NACADA start by basically just following Shea around and meeting everybody that she knew. And so I just sat down next to Shea, and it was, yeah, the Canadian advising community, and like everybody, like Charlie, was at her table for a while. It was that was a while tonight where, just, like, people just kept showing up. So that is hilarious. And I love that story that was like, latch on to other Canadians too. We're like, ah, there's more of us.

Aysha Haq  
yeah. And she was amazing at she, yeah. She was really amazing at just being like, yeah, come on over here. And much later, I recognized, oh, that's region eight over there, and I was supposed to be doing the thing over there, but all right, whatever.

Matt Markin  
So how was how excited was it for you both when you found out that, like both were in the Emerging Leaders Program for this particular cohort.

Aysha Haq  
it made me feel comfortable. I was I was like, oh, good. Bri's here. That's good.

Bri Harvie  
Bri's here. I loved it. I love seeing other Canadians in it as well, but I really love seeing region eight involvement. And I mean, I'm not the region chair anymore, but there's three of us from Region eight, and like when I went through as an emerging leader, I was the only emerging leader from Region eight. We had one mentor from Region eight, so I just beyond thrilled that more Canadians and more region eight members are are getting involved. I think as Pacific Northwesterners, we tend to be very like, Oh no, I don't want the spotlight. I'm just gonna I'll just cheer you on and I'll go hide over there. And so I love seeing us being willing to celebrate ourselves, because we're, we're really great people in the Pacific Northwest.

Matt Markin  
Oh, that's fabulous story. Thanks for for sharing that. And Bri was mentioning about, you know, maybe difference between Canada us, you know, you've had various roles and experiences. Can you talk about how maybe those experiences and those post past roles that you've had have maybe shaped your perspective on academic advising?

Aysha Haq  
How they shape my perspective on academic advising? Yeah, well, so I think for all the roles that I have done, the thing that's always been the same as, you know, I'm working with students and working in student services, there was that part that was more the paperwork part and, you know, the bureaucracy part. And and it, it was, it was it appealed to me for different parts of my brain that like to do that. But the part that I really did enjoy was, again, the part where I'm working with the student and talking to the student and getting to know the student. And so when I moved to Canada and and was looking for my first, you know, real job in Canada, and something came up for academic advising. I was like, I think that's actually where my interest lies. I know that I like being at a university. I love that, you know, you just become that, become that professional student, is what it feels like. You study there, and then you're working there, and then it's just all the parts of you. And so it's for all the other things that I tried in between, I came to university and was like, Yeah, I enjoy working with students. I think being an academic advisor would probably be the best fit for me. It gives me, gives me all the good feels. It also helps me use whatever my knowledge is on systems in universities and get students to where they're trying to go to because a lot of bureaucracy, as you know, you know, in universities, whether it's south of the border or north of the border, and that's really not what a student knows or needs to know. But they do need to get through it, and I felt like I was really good at doing that, having, you know, spent several years. Is in kind of a registrar type of role. And so when I took the transfer credit role as well, that again was the appeal of again, I feel like this balance is something about being a Libra. There's that part of me that wants to have all that, you know, the talking and the things over there, but then there's a part of the sick, but we also need to do the this and this and check things off and make it all balance out and so, so it also gave me that background on kind of what the registrar office was like at Kwantlen and how that works. But again, I came right back to advising, because I recognize that, yeah, I miss, I miss that component. I miss sitting with the student and actually talking to them and helping them get through. And how proud do I feel at the end, when, you know, it's graduation, why do I think I did the thing, even if I met with them once? I don't know, but I just feel this whole sense of pride, like, Oh, look at them graduating and, and I was, you know, somehow involved in that. And that's a lovely feeling. So, you know, there's that selfish part of it as well too.

Bri Harvie  
It is a lovely feeling, and it's like you said, you might have only met with them once, but still you're like, we did it. We being mostly them, but we did so. You you've worked in the States and Canada, and you've worked at universities, and now you're at a poly tech as somebody who also made that switch, I know I noticed a big difference in not necessarily how I interacted with the students or how my advisors interact with students, but just a little bit of a difference in what that support looks like between the university and a Polytech. What have you found to be the biggest difference in the needs of your students at Kwantlen versus at a more traditional, four year university, right?

Aysha Haq  
That's a great question. The Polytechnic piece is really interesting because, you know, we have everything which we not have is sometimes what I think we've got an acupuncture degree that that just is new, which is really great and exciting. And at one of our campuses, we have a farrier program. When we did an event there, we got to go and walk around and see the horses. And I really enjoy that. Yeah, I just was like, okay, the fact that we can do this. And the other campus, they have an automotive program, so you can take your car in and let the students work on it. And that's kind of neat. That's not, you know, that's, it's, it's just the many different types of things, types of learnings that a student can have, that that maybe in a traditional four year university, you know, might, might, might seem a little bit different. I really enjoy that part of it. I learned a lot from my students, right? I did say when I left the law school, I was given an unofficial law degree because I was like, you know, I feel like you know, I feel like I'm a lawyer now, because I've been here and talking to all the people about it. And so here I am with my JD, and same thing with my students here, when they talk to me about just some of the things that they're doing that, yeah, it would never have crossed my come across my radar. Where would I have ever sat around talk to somebody about horses and just any of that to just, you know, I live in a city. I don't really get that exposure, but I get to get that at my own university. So that's a, really, that's a very unique type of experience to be a polytechnic.

Matt Markin  
Yeah, it's almost like they get that hands on experience. So it gets to put that theory into practice. I mean, if I wish we had an auto program, automotive program here. I'd be taking my car and every few few months and be like, aside from my, you know, checkup. But can you talk about, like, your your specific role in advising at KPU, and like, what your responsibilities are? 

Aysha Haq  
So I've come back now to the arts degree advising team I did a couple years as the manager of academic advising, and this is just a few months back with arts degree advising. And so we are the advisors that support faculty of arts students who are working on their Bachelor's of Arts degrees. And so we're working with them for a third and fourth year, just all the things with the academic advising, and then all the appeals. And, you know, the thing that I really enjoy, which is figuring out, okay, how can we get you graduated? What can we do to make this thing happen? Because I'm here, I'm working with the deans, you know, I can go and advocate directly with them. I can say the thing, and, and, and then we can get graduated. Yeah, and so this is, this is what I've just come back to, amazing team, and just really excited to be where I am again.

Bri Harvie  
That's great. And I, yeah, I love the idea of, kind of getting back in front of the students and talking to them. I would love to hear your thoughts on the the internal question for bachelor of arts students, what can I do with my degree? We get that or we, we all the time. Anybody that offers a Bachelor's of Arts degree, I feel like, yes, that question 400,000 times a day, and I'd love to hear how you answer it.

Aysha Haq  
Yeah, that's that's a great question. So you know the thing? Thing that our departments are really good about doing is also posting a lot of information on their website about careers. And you know, routes that you can take if you're doing this program. We don't have the career advising piece with for us as academic advisors. I know some do. So that's not really where our focus winds up being. We can speak to whatever the departments, you know, identifying to us about what to do with these degrees. A lot of our students are actually moving on into even, you know, further learning. And so there is that conversation about, what is that for you like, if you're trying to teach? I had a student who wants to teach, and, you know, there was a disc. They were like, What? What kind of, kind of like electives Should I take? I don't have a ton of room, but what? What should I be? What should I take? And I was like, you know, the benefit of the BA is you get to choose that for yourself as well, too, and you get to round yourself off in whatever way. And if you're teaching these middle school kids, throw in a counseling course. Maybe, you know, you might want to need that. Or, you know, what is it that you think that I'm trying to think of what a middle aged student is interested in right now, I couldn't think of it, but I was like, think about the thing you know and and how in your life you wish you would have known this thing, and try to plug that in somewhere into your degree, and be creative with it, because you can definitely say to your future, whomever, where you're applying, or, you know, at a workplace, that, Oh yeah, I, you know, I took this year of Spanish. And so actually, I, you know, I'm I've got that language, and I've got this other language that I threw in as well, too. So here I am with a population that is heavy in that, and I can do that. And so I think the fact that the BA gives them that flexibility, that's the thing that I always talked about, what are your interests? Where? Where is it that you think you want to go? And what can you take with us that'll help you, you know, get there and explore some more of these interests that you have.

Matt Markin  
I feel Bri like when we do season two, we should ask that question to everybody now, just to see how they answer it, yeah. And I love your response to that, yeah. It's kind of helping them explore, but also maybe even addressing some misconceptions they might have about what a BA degree is and can offer them. And I think kind of connected to this, and in a way, also kind of connected to when we read your bio was, you know, you talk about emphasizing, like empowering advisors help empower their students. So, in a way, kind of your answer to that, I think, addresses that. But what are, what are like? How? What does empowerment look like in practice to you with helping advisors help empower their students.

Aysha Haq  
So students come in and they feel they're very like they want it to be prescriptive, right? What do I take? Is this just it? And I feel that this is their opportunity to explore. This is where you really can do the thing that you think you want to do, and we can try to figure out how to make it work, and it will enrich you. It will, it will, you know, open your world up to other things. You may discover the thing that is the better thing for you. And you know, I'm here to support you through that. I've had students come in who so many students come in who are who tell me that, oh, I'm doing this because my, you know, my dad said business was a better thing for me. And sometimes they need someone to help them look at their grades and be like, Yeah, I see that. But I also see that you, you know, you get that grade in that accounting course, in that econ course, and you kind of need that to move on to the next level. That's not where you're at. But that other one that you get that a plus in. Have you considered, you know, have you considered just doing this, this or that? What if you tried that? What if? What if you did that piece of it? And it's almost like being a life coach, and that's what, I think, the empowerment piece comes into that. Then there's that next part about, well, but my dad said that, well, okay, but you know, your dad is also not helping you take that final or do that homework and maybe want to have that conversation. Or here's some tools that we have for how you can have a conversation with a parent. And you know, we offer this and we offer that, and I think it's opening their mind and their world up a little bit more so that they can have tools that help them, you know, find their voices and pursue their passions. Sometimes it's just that's what somebody needs. They just need that person, and I think it winds up being the academic advisors often, that are the people that say, yeah, you can get through this. I've had, I've had, we've had students give a shout out at graduation speeches to an academic advisor, and I always think, Yep, see, that's how, that's what we did for you right there. And so I'm hoping that I'm reaching, you know, helping students get there. I know I have those experiences in my office. Of parents and students, and sometimes it's their first time to hear somebody say to them and the parent that, well, maybe that's not the best fit, and I've seen them make the change. 

Bri Harvie  
Okay, so looking at the empowerment piece, I'm going to poke at this a little bit. So you talked about how you empower students to make some of their own choices about their education, and you've also spent time as an interim manager of advising, and I know as a as a fellow supervisor, I say to my my team, often, your job is to support and empower students, and my job is to support and empower the advisors that support and empower the students. What does that difference look like in your practice? How do you or how did you empower your advisors? And how is it different from when now that you're back in advising, you're empowering students?

Aysha Haq  
Well, I mean, as a supervisor, it's more about making it possible for them to have schedules that give them the space and time to, you know, meet with students and and, of course, also not get burned out. I'm thinking about, you know, like peak registration times, giving them tools, whether I don't provide the tools in the sense that we've got certain platforms that we, you know, that the university is using, but the tools that they need to become familiar with some of these, these new platforms that we're using the space and time for that you know, PD opportunities, because that's important. Even for me as an experienced advisor, there's always something to be learned, something to be shared. And for students with them, I still feel it's it's still the same. It's these conversations that happen that kind of open up their world a bit, give them that space to sort of explore. For me, that's the empowerment piece, being able to kind of sit freely and talk about what it is that they're trying to do, how they can do it, and also maybe giving them things that they had not considered. Like, you know, for our criminology students, we have a prison in and out. I'm going to say the course wrong, but, you know, allows them to go into prisons and learn a thing. And you know, students that keep telling me they want to be lawyers. And you know, this is another thing to add to your sort of resume as a student for applying to law school.

Bri Harvie  
I think you're headed down where I would love to hear your thoughts on this. So you talk about like, how to really make your degree robust with your students, make your experience robust. Have you had to have conversations with your advisors about that? If you have that advisor that, if you were grading them, and they were, they were getting DS in some places and A's in some places, how do you coach that, that staff member to seek out opportunities that maybe align better with their their skills and their passions and their interests, as opposed to the pieces of it, like you said, like you had the bureaucracy piece, which is great, but not, not where you found your joy. So how do you do that same thing with team members with people?

Aysha Haq  
Yeah, that's a good question. Yeah. And so that's an interesting one, because different advisors have different skills. And it's really, it's, it's great that when we have larger teams, and so I think it becomes even more clear at that point, not everybody advises the same, not everybody has the same skill to advise, but there are different pieces of advising. You know that that make up your day to day practice, and what I found for me personally with the team was it's interesting to be it's interesting having worked with the folks and you're working as an advisor side by side, but then now you're a supervisor with folks. It was great to then put on a different kind of cap and really see, oh, this person's like, really good at this thing. I would have never thought about it or noticed it as we were colleagues. But now in this other role, I can see that this person has this sort of thing that's like, the thing I want to use this thing, and when I have, you know, there's multiple folks. For me, it was great to then be able to say, Okay, well, this person is going to actually take on that part, because they, like, super, really good at this. And, you know, giving them also that sort of confidence and boost to say, Yeah, I think you're actually kind of quite fabulous, if you can just take care of that part of it, and then we'll have them take care of that part of it, the thing that I would say that I say a lot, and I was like, I sound corny, but I really mean it. Teamwork makes the dream work. It really does it, like you notice it more and more. And, you know, I like football, so then, and then that drives everyone bad, because I'll be, I'll be quoting, you know, what Coach says that we should, you know? And it's so true, like it applies sort of everywhere. And so being a supervisor doing that with people, what I trying to say is our end result is, it's that we're all just trying to help the student to do the thing. We don't all excel at all the things. And that okay is okay for me, and we just need to find the piece, that you're doing the best, that you're it, and you're in your and then we'll put it. All together, and we'll still have this great package of academic advising available to a student. When I work with the student, then I'm like your same idea for you. You may not excel at all the the things, and again, that's okay, but what we're trying to do is figure out what is the thing that's the best. You're going to find the passion again, get excited. You're going to get the good grades and and that's what you should do. It should be okay that you're not doing the 10,000 things. It should be okay that you're doing the things that are the ones that resonate the most with you, and so kind of coaching them through that.

Matt Markin  
Yeah, I think that's fabulous advice. Whether it's a new advisor just starting out, it's their first day, or if it's someone that's seasoned and been there for, you know, 10 years or more, now you're mentioning that you you do you quote from coaches other sports, you're mentioning football, what's, what's your team? Or do you have multiple teams?

Aysha Haq  
It's just the Seattle Seahawks. That's all it is. People know it I'm geared up, usually, if there's a thing, and yeah, so and then they have to hear about it, and if it's not a and if we lose, it's just not a good week. And yeah, people should know better than to talk to me at that time.

Bri Harvie  
But we're also a football family, and so I'm 100% with you, but we have three different teams in our trio, so it's like, somebody's always cranky during football season, and heaven help you if it's my seven year old, because she gets the crankiest of the bunch.

Aysha Haq  
What are your three? I need to know that, Bri, what are your three? 

Bri Harvie  
So, my husband's a Packers fan, which is really hard on my soul, and I'm a Steelers fan, and my daughter is a chiefs fan, and was a chiefs fan before T swift healthy all came out, and now is even more a chiefs fan, and gets so excited when Taylor Swift at the game. But she's like, and she's a really, really, really aggressive about it, but like, I liked them before that was a thing too. And we're like, we get it, girl. You don't it. Girl, you don't need to justify to us. So I hear you on, like, just leave me alone if things are going badly.

Aysha Haq  
Were you at the last conference last year? Did you get to go to the game?

Bri Harvie  
Yes and yes. And I lost my mind.

Aysha Haq  
Because Russell for the Steelers, and he used to be the Seahawks QB, and I only wanted to go for him, but yeah, okay,

Bri Harvie  
Yeah, that's a whole different podcast we could have. Yeah, advising, does football?

Matt Markin  
There you go. Bri, how did the how'd you become a fan of the Seahawks?

Aysha Haq  
Well, I mean, I lived in Seattle, so before that, when I lived in Houston, I was a Houston Oilers fan, and then we moved to Seattle, and then I was a Seattle Seahawks fan. And that was, that was just it. So that's been 3040, 40 years as a Seahawks fan been, you know, I was a season ticket holder for multiple years. And the last year that I had season tickets, I had already moved to Canada, so then I was making the journey back and forth for the games, and eventually got tired, you know, after that year, I was like, Okay, I think I'll just let that go now, but yeah.

Matt Markin  
And you were mentioning the conference last year, and they had the Pittsburgh Steelers game. They were in town for their home game. So let's talk about, maybe transition to NACADA. Talk to us about, you know, we heard a little bit about your nakod experience in your bio, but can you tell us more about how your NACADA journey started and kind of where that's at now?

Aysha Haq  
Yeah, that was actually kind of one of those things that I fell into, we, I think, as a new advisor, there was something happening, and someone said to me that, so we're going to go to this event, whatever this thing was. And I feel like it was actually the BC Advising Association was doing a thing, and I didn't know what that was. And then they were like, Oh, this is just an off shooter. We're we're trying this thing out, and it's from NACADA. And I was like, Okay, what is NACADA? And then I found out, oh, I had to get a membership. And I was like, oh, okay, let's do this thing. So, you know, you fall into it this way. And immediately I was like, Okay, well, I want to be a part of this association. So I started the local one with the BC Advising Association. And through that, you know, we did our little things. But then I went to the NACADA annual conference, and that was my first conference, which was the Disney World one, which is also quite exciting, which was a big conference too. I just want to say there was a lot going on. And I went to this session. Did you go to that one too? Bri, is that you were you gonna? No, okay, it's, I went to a session where they brought in these people to talk about this thing called emerging leaders that they had done and and I was like, Okay, but what is that? And someone said to me, you should try that. Like, if you're doing this thing, you should. This thing, but it kind of almost felt like a whole lot, and I kind of wasn't ready for it at that time, but I had always but I kind of kept in the back of my mind, and even at the future conferences that I would go to, I would kind of look at that again and think, Well, what is this? I kind of, I kind of want to explore it a little bit more, but it just felt really big to me. And so then I brought my focus down to Okay, region eight is my region. I've been to some conferences. I've learned a lot of things every time I've gone to a conference, whether it was the regional or the National, annual, it was national at one time, annual and and I got a lot, I would get a lot. And so I recognize at one point that you know what I know things too, and maybe I should be on one of these committees. And I had a good co worker who really kind of pushed me and was like, you really need to be, you really need to do that. That's, that's your passion. I can, I can hear it. Whenever you talk about NACADA, you just get very excited. And you just, you just get very excited. I met Charlie years ago at, I think it was at the BC Advising Association. And I'm going to say it was really my conversation with him that got me just super excited just about all NACADA things, because he's, if you know Charlie Nutt, you know that he's just, you know he's the guy. And it was from his my conversation with him that he was that I asked him something like, what do you think about advisors running for Senate and being on Senate? And he's like, I think that's a great thing. And I think, and I was like, Oh, wait, that's it. I'm doing it. And so in that sense that I was getting just so much great feedback and things from DACA at the point that I felt like, you know, I got things to give then I then I was like, Okay, I'm going to do this thing. I'm going to go do the region eight thing. And and somehow, at the same time, I got signed up for the Canada advising community, and then the pandemic hit. And, you know, in the pandemic, the biggest connection that I felt like I had to work in the outside world was my NACADA stuff, like all my, you know, my meetings and I did the annual conference, was the online version, right? And I, it was great. It was great to it was great. It was just great. And I then I was and I was very happy that, okay, I'm in the region eight thing. I'm doing the Canada advising community thing. And then I think finally, someone said to me, you, you got to try this emerging leader. You just need to do that. I think that's where you that's where you need to be. And then they, they put the thing on pause. They put the program on pause the year that I got all ready and had talked to everybody that I need to do the thing, and then it went on pause. So, um, I was happy when it came back. And then I was like, This is it. I'm going hard on this and I'm gonna get this done. So somehow I managed to do all the things at the same time. And it's, but it's been a it's, it's been fabulous. It's been the best connections, and it's been just really the most learning that people who I feel have mentored me along the way, and and I feel like that's where I want to move into, where I can, you know, pay it forward, give it back.

Bri Harvie  
It's lovely. And I feel like a lot of us have that story of like somebody was cheerleading us. And I mean, it's not surprising. We're all advisors who are used to cheerleading students. So of course, we cheerlead each other. Thinking back to when you were first applying for the program, like a year and a half ago, if you had to put yourself in the shoes of somebody who was on the fence about whether or not they should apply, we hear a lot from folks that they think that they didn't have anything to add that's unique, and so they choose not to. So what would be your cheerleading speech? How would you get some of those folks to apply for the program?

Aysha Haq  
Well, okay, so part of that, for me was, you know, if that's what someone's feeling, it's, it's this almost imposter syndrome that really, I am I? Am I a leader? Am I, you know, am I the person that does the things or knows the things? And so for anyone who's thinking about it, you know a thing, and if you don't know a thing, you're going to learn a thing, because that's what we do. We're also learners, right? You know, you open your world to so much of what's going on in NACADA as well, too. And to try to be a voice for change as well, for anyone who's just thinking about it, man, just do it. You you'll be amazed at what you can put on paper to even apply for something like you think you can't. But then you sit down and you start to think about what you know you've done, and what you know, what you want to learn, and what you want to do, and and then you know, it starts to happen for you. It's a goal, like it was for me. It was a goal like, I had just decided this was the thing. I'm just I'm doing this thing. I'm putting it all there, and I would encourage others as well too. Like, if you're really passionate about working with other super cool people and helping to make the association, just like, even cooler than it already is. I. And to help support all of us, then, yep, you've got to do it. And you know, the people who supported me through it, like supervisors and all that, I would say that their level of commitment to me and their excitement for me surprised me a little bit. I wasn't expecting it, but I and and that that's such a good feeling as well too, to then give them that gave them an opportunity to give me some really positive feedback as well, too. And so, you know, you may find that as you're doing that you'll have these great supervisors who also be like, Wow, look at you with all the goals that you're doing as well too. And I also recognize that you have these great skills in you. And so, yeah, channel that for good teamwork makes the dream work. And so everybody contributing and being a part of it is just really important to all of us.

Matt Markin  
I think love it. And you were mentioning goals, so I think that's a great segue to talk about, what were your goals in year one of the program, and how did that go? Okay?

Aysha Haq  
And I've mentioned this before, so I was gonna, I was in Region Eight, and I was gonna apply to even before region eight, it was, I had thought about emerging leaders, but region eight was right there for me, because I was at the conference. And so I thought, okay, if I don't do the thing, I'm not going to do the thing. I'm just going to just going to do the thing, and I'm going to get myself doing a thing. Because sometimes that's the other thing. You just don't you just stop yourself, and you don't get there. So if you're listening this and you're like, I'm thinking, man, just do it. Just do it. Just do the thing. I thought I would start the region eight, and then I was thinking, Okay, well, to the emerging leaders too, but somehow I was in the Canada advising community as well. And I thought, Okay, I'll still do the Emerging Leaders too. And I had started the process and went into hiatus. So all the So other things came up, and I thought, Okay, well, okay, I'll just do them. So the opportunity to chair Canada advising community came up, and, you know, we needed a chair. There were things that were going to happen if we didn't have a chair. So I was like, alright, I'll step up and I'll do this, because I'm trying to do emerging leaders, but it just went on hiatus. And so, okay, I'll just do this. So I felt like I did things, kind of like backwards. I started doing the leadership stuff, sort of first, and then the program came up, and then I'm in the program. And so they're like, what's your goal? And I was like, what was going to be the My goal was originally to get into the, you know, a committee, and then, you know, do the the thing a little bit more in the committee, but some have already jumped to that now. And so now here I'm in the Emerging Leaders Program. And so it's what it's really doing, is helping me to be an effective chair. So I thought, Okay, well, that works out really good, because I've got some good mentors that, you know, like, Okay, try this. Did this? Did she do that? What about this? Connect with this person? So it didn't matter, at the end of the day how it sort of rolled out for me. The goal of trying to take on more and more roles within the association and at higher levels where I can also help others. It just all, you know, turned into however it turned into, but it's all good, and it's all like, it's all just driving really well together. It's awesome.

Bri Harvie  
And it's, it's, it's really too bad that the program halted, but I it sounds like I gave you the opportunity to, like, jump in and figure it out for yourself, and now you're on the program, and you get the best of both worlds. It's wild to me that we're already almost halfway through the 24 to 26 class, like we're just two months away from the halfway point. So tell us a little bit about what's next. What do you have planned for your ELP time over the next 14 months?

Aysha Haq  
Yeah, so they're having a restructure of the communities. And you know, that's a time where we're looking at where we're going. There were so many communities before, and it'll go down to the 16, and I'm still trying to wrap my brain around what that looks like. And I think part of that for me, right, is guiding folks through what this next step is going to be. So for this next year, I was doing, you know, that year end report, and just kind of looking at what my goals have been for this past year, what we were trying to accomplish. And and our community is not huge. We're small but mighty. And so, you know, the goals were to just keep us connected and keep us moving along. There have been so many challenges this past year for the community, you know, financially, politically, all the things that are happening and and so I think even for just moving forward, it's nice to be in the ELP and to be connected leadership. And it helps to really give me a sense of, okay, how are we moving forward here with our community? What can we do to make things happen? I just really appreciate the fact that I have this network now because of ELP, it's going to be really important, I think, for our. For our community to have that, it's going to help us, I think, figure out our place and where we're moving towards. Think this is the last year that we'll have the communities, and then it'll be in 2026 that'll transition right? So I feel like whatever work needs to be done here I'm in my ELP, and that's giving me all the opportunities and the resources to try to get some some of these other goals over here accomplished as well too. It's they tied together so well.

Matt Markin  
Now you were mentioning earlier based off breeze question in terms of like, people that might be like, I don't know if I should apply or not. Your advice is like, Just do it. Another kind of concern I think some people have when they're thinking about, do I apply or not? Is it's a two year commitment, you know, am I going to have time to balance that with my current role? Yes, granted, everyone is different in their roles and responsibilities. They're different with their time management. They're going to be different ultimately, with their goals. And how much time is going to be committed to those, those goals within the Emerging Leaders Program. How has it worked out for you time wise so far?

Aysha Haq  
Well, because I had started, when I started it, I was also on region eight, and then I was chairing Canada, and then I was an ELP. I thought, What am I doing? And I was the manager of academic advising, and I was like, Okay, that's it. Just over, shot myself, and just decided to do all the things all at once. But I kind of enjoyed it too. I don't know if you, you know, we're all different. Sometimes when it's all the things, it just makes me even more, like, you know, laser focused on because it just maybe forces me to just be more. And so it has actually been quite fabulous. And I was, you know, finishing off the role in Region eight, so I knew that that was going to happen, and that allowed things to calm down a little bit for me. And so it's been really good. Actually. It's not that you cannot manage. It doesn't take up a ton of time, that's for sure. And the time that I do get to have with my mentor is actually kind of fabulous time. It's an, you know, bouncing ideas like I said, learning things, learning things that helped me with other things. So, you know, talking to my mentor that helped me do my Canada advising community as well, to chairing like it was a role that was new for me. And so just, I just get so many fabulous things from all my NACADA people. It just enriches. I think, my advising experience and just really my work experience as well, too. And it's fun. It's fun, to be frank, our WhatsApp, you know, Group Chat, where we're all cheering for each other, for things that happen. It's great. I feel like, I know people feel like, when I go to the conference, I'll be like, Hey, how you doing? Because, you know, we know each other, and that's nice.

Matt Markin  
Yeah, there's that community that, that connection piece to it, and Time flies, you know you're mentioning, have fun with it. Time flies when you're having fun with this conversation. And we've reached time on this recording for the podcast interview, I thought gave a lot of great nuggets of information that listeners, I think will gain from thank you so much for joining Bri and I today.

Aysha Haq  
Thank you both. That was really fun. I really enjoyed that.