Welcome to College Conversations!

Learn about me, my channel and what inspired me to start this journey.

You're probably wondering who I am or why I am doing this. My name is Janice Fedor and I have been a college professor since 2004. My passion for teaching and helping students improve their lives has grown significantly throughout the years for many reasons.

Helping students adjust to college became a passion for me when I had two daughters in college at the same time. My husband, a certified financial planner, and I had many casual conversations with our daughters in our kitchen, around the dinner table, and in the car that helped them figure out their own college experiences with all the inherent decisions, distractions, and information overload. But then I thought–what about the students who don’t have a college professor for a mom? Or two college-educated parents at home? They must have just as many questions but have less immediate access to advice about college.

How it all started

My journey started when I had to help my kids navigate college at the same time I was helping my college students. As a college professor, I always knew there were students in my classroom who were struggling but didn’t know how to ask the right questions. It's hard to know where to start! Some of these problems were simple and straightforward, like-- What do you mean by a syllabus? What exactly is a prerequisite? Other issues were more personal and complex—how can I make friends at college? How do I know if I’m in the right major? This got me thinking about the various ways in which I could make an impact and help these students in their journey which is why in 2021 I decided to create a YouTube channel, College Conversations with Dr. Fedor, to help students navigate college.

I noticed that many first-time-in-college (FTIC or first gen) students seemed especially hesitant to ask questions. Maybe they thought that all of the other students sitting around them already knew the answers. Maybe they had imposter syndrome and thought if they asked too simple of a question (in their minds) it would draw attention to them and somehow signal to the rest of the world that they did not belong in college. Getting adjusted to college and subsequently succeeding in college is hard and complex. It doesn’t matter if you have two parents with doctorate degrees or one parent who didn’t finish high school, you are still going to have questions about college. Every college experience is different, and you can't expect to know all the answers.

I saw firsthand how helping students with their questions quickly can help avoid small, fixable problems from turning into larger, I’m-going-to-quit-college problems later on in the semester. Sometimes it just takes getting the right answer at the right moment that provides the motivation for students to stay in college. Sometimes it just takes someone to have the same questions you have to realize you aren’t alone. And sometimes, having someone there to answer your questions is enough to not feel alone.

Ask me anything!

Since the beginning of Covid almost three years ago, many student orientation programs have had to be reduced, streamlined, moved online, or drastically simplified. At the same time, college is more complicated now than ever before. College students have a lot of questions and it's hard to keep up!

I’m Dr. Fedor and I’m here to help you navigate college. Let me know if you have a new topic for my YouTube channel, College Conversations with Dr. Fedor, and I will respond. Whether you have a simple or complicated question, always ask it. And remember to Keep Learning!