What a Mighty Peer Mentor
Being a peer mentor is being a resource for first year students. It is a less intimidating approach to helping students in their first year gain the knowledge and experience of how being a university student works. Since it is peers helping peers, it is a way for first year students to comfortably begin to understand life as a university student and all the obstacles that may go along with it. As a peer mentor, it is a responsibility to successfully guide first year students toward aAs a peer mentor, I feel my strengths are compassion, empathy, and listening skills. In these ways I will be able to understand students and their needs. An area that can be improved on is my speaking abilities. As an introvert, I am always thinking, but not always saying what I would like to. I would like to improve in this area because it is not only important to be able to listen to others, but be able to articulate well a response to what it is they need.
As a peer mentor, my students will gain a better understanding of the realities of being a university student, as well as how to go through the processes and emotions that it may bring. My students will be more comfortable and confident with themselves as scholars and members of a community, whatever that community may be.
I like your response on what a peer mentor means. I feel that I also am sort of empathetic because when someone tells me about their problems, it's as if I were experiencing them too! Anyway, I also feel that I need to work on my communication skills. I agree on how students should also gain a better reality of what college is because most of the time they are scared based on what others say about it.
ReplyDeleteI agree that mentoring should help students become comfortable in their individual communities! As introvert I also struggle with not saying enough sometimes too but I try to counter that by making meaningful comments!
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