Member Spotlight: Jessica Hust

Hometown: Pettus, TX

College(s) attended: Texas State University, although when I started there it was Southwest Texas!

Degree(s) earned: Bachelors in Applied Sociology and Masters in Education

Job Title: Assistant Academic Advisor

What are your hobbies? I love to crochet and have a wish list of new crafts to learn. I read ALL the time and if possible, I’d love to travel more.

What is your current job at UT? I’m currently the only academic advisor in the Jackson School of Geosciences. It’s awesome but can sometimes be lonely.


How many years have you worked at UT? One year, two months, and counting!

What is the most challenging aspect of your current job? Staying organized! As an advisor for the Jackson School, I perform many duties in addition to advising including administrative tasks, taking the lead on our Academic Intervention Program, Jackson 5ish (our service organization), newsletters, graduation applications, FIG facilitator, field trips, Q-drops, withdrawals, honors,  etc. I have to keep a detailed to-do list as well as a calendar handy at all times! It all pays off in the end though.

What is your favorite thing about your current job? My students are real go-getters! All are high-achieving and motivated. It’s always exciting to learn about their next project or the research they are involved in.

Tell us about one of your success stories in your current position (regarding a student, co-worker, project, etc.). We admitted a student last year who was very awkward and uncomfortable in social situations. As a result, he had a hard time connecting with others and found himself alone a good deal of his first semester. Mentors approached him as well as his FIG facilitator to determine what was going on and he even went to see a counselor but later said he wasn’t comfortable with them. The rapport that I built with him during that first semester lead him to contact me when he was thinking of hurting himself over the holiday break. Throughout the fall in our appointments and random encounters in the student center, this student felt he could trust me and wanted to confide in me. He got the help he needed and returned to UT the following Spring. He’s made leaps and bounds. He is most definitely a success story.