Week 2

I chose to continue my time as a peer mentor because I fully enjoyed last year and wanted to continue to make some type of a difference in the lives of the new Hixson scholars.  I love being able to look back and see the growth that I experienced as a leader and to see the growth I saw in my fellow peer mentors as well. 

Some personal characteristics that I have that help with being a helping person are being very open and being a very positive person.  Both of these characteristics help others be able to approach me and to feel comfortable approaching me.

While we were talking about the concerns new freshman may have I was spending a little bit of time reflecting on the concerns and issuses that the students in my recitation had.  The one that was the biggest for my group was home sickness.  I tried to suggest that the students find new activities to get involved in on campus so they would have different ways to distract themselves from home while also becoming acquainted with their new cyclone home.  Another concern a few students in my section had was trying to figure out their major.  In my opinion these were the most fun concerns, because I had the chance to suggest majors based on what they told me their interests were.  I also suggested they went to the career fair and to just talk to people in the departments they were interested in.

I am excited to see the further growth I will have as a leader this year.  I am also looking forward to finding new ways to help the new freshman navigate their concerns.

Peer Mentor: Round 2

Hello everyone!


I am at a little bit of a loss for words on these get to know you introduction things.  We seem to do them in every class we have the first week or two of a new semester.  I also will be going a little out of order here as far as the prompt for this post goes so be aware.  But, I'll start with a little introduction of the title of my first post this semester. 


I am trilled to say that this is my second year of being a peer mentor.  I would say that I have grown quiet a lot in the past year and I would hope that Allie, Chelsea, and Debra would say the same.  I choose to apply as a peer mentor the first time because I felt there was something my peer mentors had lacked and I thought I'd try to do a better job (and hopefully I did).  Thus I would say a time when I was at my best has been both times I made the decision to become a Hixson peer mentor.  I know it sounds like a suck up thing to say, but I have truly grown a lot in this last year and I look forward to the growth that is to come.


Now to get to the fun stuff about me!  I grew up in a town called DeWitt on the eastern side of the state.  I am a very outgoing individual as I'm sure you all will learn.  My parents divorced when I was 7.  They did manage to have a brief reunion a few years later during which my little brother, Lucus, was born.  Lucus is 9.5 years younger than me and he is the pride and joy of my life.  He is now 11 and in 6th grade.  This semester I am continuing an internship at a youth shelter in Ames which has proven to be challenging and almost always full of excitement (good and bad).  I also work two jobs right now.  One is on campus at the Student Scheduling Office and the other is at Kohl's.  With all of this you can bet that I tend to be a very busy person, but I like to stay that way.


I don't really know if I could say it is the thing I enjoy doing the most, but I do enjoy cooking, more specifically baking, quiet a lot.  I may just have to bring some treats in for the class this semester.


Something I enjoy learning is, oddly enough, anything to do with my major, psychology.  I have just started my senior year and I can honestly say I have liked every psychology course I have ever taken.  I will be going to grad school next year for child psychology, but I don't know where yet.  Eventually I would like to get into play therapy and either work in a clinic or in the court setting as well.


This year I just hope to continue to grow as a peer mentor through better communication and finding more ways to engage the students in learning.


Finally the role I feel I will play in the Freshman students transition to ISU is as a role model and as someone they can come to with questions, thoughts, concerns, and whatever else.  I will be someone to help them navigate the stresses of leaving home, learning to live with roommates, making new friends in a different environment, finding ways to become involved, and a variety of other things as they arise.


I am excited to get to know all of you throughout this next year so let's make it a great one!