Welcome Back, Me

It’s been about eight months since I last blogged. When I last blogged, I was a peer mentor in training. I had all sorts of thoughts about what was going to happen when classes started up in the fall. I was worried. I was nervous. I couldn’t wait to start my mentoring. I had all this training under my belt, and I WAS READY!

Now, eight months and several bouts of mentoring later, I’m ready to do it all again. This time it’s going to be different though. Last year, I had no idea what to expect. I learned a great deal of traits and skills that I applied when I was mentoring. Rather than this being a semester of learning from this class, I feel this is going to be a semester of relearning and teaching. This is an opportunity to catch anything I may have missed or take another approach to what we will be learning. In addition, I feel that my knowledge of what will come will help the first year peer mentors. I look at all of these new faces, and I realize that this semester is going to be fantastic.

Once again, I find myself reading Students Helping Students. I read this book last year and found it to be a great learning experience. This book not only helped me in this class last year, but it also provided me with skills that I use in other aspects of my life. This time around I can read the book with experience. I can note which parts helped me last year and which parts were weaker. More importantly, I can pick up on anything I may have missed. For example, last time I read the book, I did not pick up on just how important peer mentors were. The book notes that peer mentors are role models. The students who enter as freshmen see them as a mirror of how to act. I didn’t understand the importance of this until I started mentoring. The students seem to hang on to your every word, and they often come to you with questions on how to handle situations. Another important lesson from these two chapters is the challenges that affect students. Last year, it probably would have been very beneficial to me to have paid more attention to the challenges because the incoming freshmen will come to you with almost any type of situation. It is important not to think of any one situation as ridiculous because then you will not understand its importance.

Overall, I am strongly looking forward to this semester and this class. Last year, I learned important lessons that I applied to every aspect of my life. I’m hoping this happens this semester as well. Even though I took this class last year, I’m coming into this class expecting surprises. Anything can happen, and I hope it does.