Interviewing my Mentee Spring 2019

Jessica Grimmer, and Early Childhood Education major, and I grabbed lunch after a Saturday morning dance class. Below are the questions that I asked her and her responses to these questions.

How are you enjoying your major?

When I asked Jessica about her major she said that things are going well. Since last semester she has declared her dance minor, which means that we are studying the exact same thing now. She told me that she is taking FEEP, earth science, math 1126, HDFS 2410 online, Art education, and tap. I have taken most of these classes, so we discussed how she was feeling about the classes, her teacher, and what classes she likes the best so far. Jessica did say that she doesn’t enjoy her earth science class too much because it is lecture style, which makes it harder for her to focus and learn. We talked about lecture styles classes, and agreed that we enjoy our smaller discussion based classes more.

Do you think you will keep the same involvement next year as you have this year?

Jessica and I are both part of the same clubs. We talked about the clubs that she enjoys being part of: Studio Dance, OSEA, and Pen Pals. We are both a part of Studio Dance and OSEA, however I have not been a part of Pen Pals. I asked her what she does for that club and she explained that during the biweekly meetings that receive a topic to write to their pen pals about. Currently her pen pal is a 5th grader, and she will be receiving another pen pal soon. She likes this club and hopes to continue with it next semester. Next year Jessica said that she hopes to become a part of College mentors for kids. We also talked about her possibly joining STEP next year, but she isn’t sure what she would do with the money.

Have you enjoyed the ACES living-learning community in Smith-Steeb?

Jessica told me that her favorite part of the ACES is making friends and living with people that she sees outside of Smith Steeb. She has enjoyed the program overall, and plans to continue with ACES. She has made a lot of great friends through the program, and is glad that she joined.

Have your career plans changed since last semester?

Because we already talked about her major, we talked about the possibility of her receiving the endorsement to teach 4th and 5th grade. This is something that I plan on doing, but Jessica informed me that she might be able to receive a license for K-5th with no additional classes because OSU is thinking about changing the program. However, she is not sure when they are going to make this change. She says the whether or not they make this change, she will try to get her license to teach all the way through 5th grade. Other than this, all of her career plans have stay the same.

What goals have you set for yourself this semester?

This semester Jessica said that she is going to try to balance school work and a social life. Last semester she struggled on spending time with people outside of school and clubs. She would like to work on stressing less about her homework and studying. She tends to only focus on school work until it is all done– and it is hard to get it all done. Aside from school causing her stress, she would still like to continue to get good grades. She is also teaching a combo class for studio dance and hopes to increase her experience working with student throughout studio dance and her other clubs/classes.

 

Other topics that Jessica and I discussed were plans for the summer and spring break. While she doesn’t have anything big planned for spring break, she hopes to meet with some people who work for the camp that she will be leading over the summer. Over the summer she will be the head counselor for a summer camp, and will need to plan activities for the children to do everyday. She is very excited but nervous about this.