Refractions in the end

In class this week, Megan and Corey discussed other groups on campus that use methods similar to ours and use peer mentors. Such groups were the Greek community, Big Brothers Big Sisters, tutors, and Honors. These groups are similar in that they promote education and leadership. However, these groups can be vastly different from the Hixson program as well. For example, Big Brothers Big Sisters promotes friendship between a “little” and a “big.” This cannot be the relationship between a peer mentor and a freshman Hixson scholar. In addition, Honors has a focus just on education. However, as Hixson peer mentors, we are responsible for things other than education such as adjusting to college, discussing roommates, and serving as a resource for information about campus.

            This week also came with the realization that we are almost finished with the course. There is still training to be done, but we are close to being assigned a recitation class for next semester. Realizing this, this makes me recall my mission statement, and how I plan to install the values of this course into the recitations next fall. I plan on encouraging diversity in the classroom while helping to eliminate or downplay stereotypes. In addition, I plan on bringing leadership to recitations in order to maintain control along with my co-leader. By displaying all the positive signs of a leader, we can fulfill the role of role model for the students. Also, I plan on helping my recitation session become a group with all the positive traits of a group such as cohesiveness, communication, and reward for finishing a project.

            Overall, I feel this course has helped me grasp a better understanding of what a leader is. I feel that this class will not only help me as a Hixson peer mentor, but it will help me in other aspects of my life. I can use it when I am working on a group project, or I can the information when I am studying for tests. Finally, I look forward to next fall, and I hope that my co-leader, and I can work together to insure that the entering freshmen get the best experience ever.

MOAR Diveristy in the 12th week

            This week in lecture, Denise Williams, diversity coordinator for the College of Human Sciences at Iowa State University, guest lectured about diversity. Personally, I love hearing lectures about topics like these, and this one did not disappoint (also there was ice cream). One thing that Denise talked about was what made up diversity. She asked if our group, the group made up of the peer mentors, Hixsons, and the Hixson Student Board, could be classified as diverse. At first, I figured that our group was not very diverse. I was thinking in terms of race and ethnicity. The group in that room was mostly Caucasian with few other ethnicities in the room. However, Denise informed us that race and ethnicity weren’t the other factors that could make a group diverse. Other factors that could result in diversity are socioeconomic background, gender, skill sets, age, and what you are majoring in. This opened my eyes as I had a strict view of diversity until hearing that it was more than race.

            Another thing that Denise talked about was stereotypes. She showed racist memes on the board that were influenced by common stereotypes. She also showed a video clip from the play “N*gger, We*back, Ch*nk” that talked about common stereotypes of Asians, Blacks, and Latinos. Her whole point about this information was that stereotypes can hurt. It generalizes a group, and it causes some people to form opinions about a person before they actually get to know that person. While some stereotypes may be positive about a race or group, they can also be harmful at the same time. If one stereotype is positive about a group, and a person from that group does not have that trait, they may feel like they do not belong. I never thought about that issue before. Next fall, I have to make sure to avoid using any stereotypes as it may anger a student or may cause them to feel bad about themselves. This lecture helped me by taking me deeper into diversity and allowed me to see that generalizing a person before you get to know them is wrong and often results in you being wrong about that person. Every person is unique, just as every Hixson next fall will be unique. In order to be successful as a peer mentor and a role model, I must accept this an incorporate it into my work.

Students Helping Students in the 11th Week

This week in class, Easten and Alex taught a learning session on ethics. I feel that this lesson was EXTREMELY relevant to everyone in the class. There are many rules and guidelines that peer mentors must follow if they are to help younger students and succeed in being role models. My favorite part of the lesson was the part where we tried to solve problems in various scenarios. I liked the scenarios because they all seemed like issues that would come up next fall. This week’s lesson has greatly prepared me in understanding how to handle certain situations and has cleared up some misconceptions I had with the position as a peer mentor. In addition to the lesson, Allie and Silas had the whole group play a safe version of “Would you Rather.” I enjoyed this because it gave me a chance to see what was going on in my fellow peer mentor’s heads. This is definitely one of the icebreakers I will use when I teach a recitation next semester.

            For this week, we had to read Chapter 11 in Students Helping Students which was about various peer education programs in college, and the responsibilities of peer leaders in these programs. One type of peer education program is a community service program. This program can be local like America Reads/America Counts and Alternative Breaks or international with students traveling to countries like Kenya or Turkey. The peer mentor role in this program is usually filled by the coordinators. Another peer education program is a health and wellness program. These are groups such as SHAPE, SNAC, AND Healthy Decisions. Peer leaders in these groups promote wellness as well as help students stay healthy and eat right. Overall, I feel that these organizations are an essential part of any college campus. I also think that it is a wise idea for each one to use peer leaders for these various programs because students can relate to other students. This is what the book is all about, and I feel that if I employ the methods learned from the WHOLE course next fall, I will succeed as a peer mentor.