Week five was definitely the most fulfilling yet, but week six was a vacation compared to it.

September 20, the class for week five, the peer mentors presented their transition challenge.  During my freshman survey, this was the week that stood out most in my mind.  My peer mentors granted me a sense of relief, and helped me realize I was not the only person who had, or was having, a challenging adjustment to the Ohio State University.  This motivated me to ensure that my transition challenge was interesting and could potentially have a positive impact on a student’s life.

So, I arrived to class Wednesday admittedly nervous and going over my speech in my head.  I had decided to discuss my recent and ongoing struggle with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD, learn more at http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/obsessive-compulsive-disorder#1), as I know mental illness is prominent among high-functioning students.  I have always had the disorder, but the anxiety of college coursework and leaving my home intensified it greatly.  I recounted the process of its escalation with the students, trying to add some humor into the discussion of a serious topic, and offered them my solution.  I am doing my final internship project on this subject matter, and plan to delve much deeper into my story at that time.  I know that there is most likely one student struggling with their mental health and I am hoping that my story of finding myself again reassured and encouraged them to seek help. An untreated disorder, even OCD, can have very serious, and sometimes deadly, consequences if left untreated. Finally, I relayed to the freshmen that I am always willing to discuss the topic of mental illness, as well as anything else.

As I was walking out of class, a freshman girl grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side. She explained that her boyfriend has always had OCD, but it was recently intensifying as he began to pick up more hours at work, while enrolled in school full-time.  She asked me for my best advice for him.  Also, she wanted me to give her ways to help him.  I happily gave her strategies for coping with OCD, as well as what I believe are helpful ways for the people around someone with OCD to help the individual. I encouraged her to let him know that it is totally ok to seek help.  Mental illness is not a sign of weakness.   Also, I told her to feel free to share my story with her boyfriend.  I knew that if I had heard a similar story when I was in his position, I would not have felt nearly as embarrassed as I did.  I have learned to embrace my imperfection, and turn it into an opportunity to help others accept their flaws.

Walking away from that conversation, I felt amazing.  I knew that I had positively impacted somebody’s life and experience, whether they knew who I was or not.  That is why I signed up to be a peer mentor.

Sadly, week 6 trumped in comparison.  We discussed the Honors GE requirements over again, and the students received their final academic plan assignment.  The looks of pure terror on their faces was the exact emotion I remember feeling when I flipped through the pages of the packet.  However, I assured them that they are going to be ok.  I am currently considering hosting a workshop to help them navigate the academic plan.  I know I could have great benefitted from this!

I am looking forward to helping the students figure out how to navigate schedule planner, which I love to play around on in between terms!

My experience as a peer mentor has been amazingly fulfilling so far, and I cannot wait to see what the next few weeks, when life gets a little more complicated for freshmen, will bring!

Week 3 started out amazing… the freshmen did not look at me like I had 3 heads when I tried to make conversation with them!

That being said, week 3 was the time where I really felt as though I was impacting the freshmen in a positive way, and that they also were looking to me for guidance.  The morning of Wednesday, September 6, I walked into the survey class and greeted the freshmen.  All at once, multiple girls shouted questions at me.  “Where do I buy ingredients for protein balls? Where do I cook them? How do I get into my dorm’s kitchen,”  or, my favorite, “where can I find a good coffee?”  Obviously, being part of Generation X, I promptly told the student that there is a place on 14th Avenue and High Street.  The name?  Starbucks, obviously.

During the class time, Rachel broke us up into small groups to lead discussions about the importance of the liberal arts in the world, which was also the topic of the discussion post that the class had done prior to the meeting.  It was definitely difficult to get the freshmen to talk to me in a smaller group, as I could tell that they were not very confident in whether or not their answers were viable.  I encouraged them, as countless professors have done for me throughout my college career, that there is no wrong answer.  Well, there is, but it’s better to have the confidence to speak up and be wrong, than to lack the confidence to speak up at all.  My cheesy comment worked, and they began to give their opinions.  Mostly, they felt that liberal arts training makes individuals more well-rounded, and ready for the daily interaction that is involved in many professional environments.  They also conferred that, although math and science is part of the liberal arts, those students are quite different than students pursuing B.A.’s.  It was said that those students tend to lack people skills, and may be a bit more on the socially awkward side… they said it not me!  Some of them felt more comfortable towards the end of the conversation and began bonding with each other over the experience that is the first weeks of college.  Seeing that made me happy, as I know that connections are what pulled me through my first semester of college.

The next day, September 7, I arrived to training, and it was nothing out of the ordinary!  We simply went over more GE requirements for the science classes, how to communicate with others at Ohio State, and practiced some skits depicting communication situations between students and professors.  The communication presentation brought me back to the time I saw those slides in my survey and frantically searched for a teacher to write me a letter of recommendation.  Two years and a major change later, I do not remember that professor’s name, unfortunately.  But, those slides definitely cleared up questions about emailing teachers and office hours that I had coming into college.

Week 4 was even better than week 3, as the students greeted me first when I walked into the class rather than me having to drag a “hello,” out of them.

The survey class on Wednesday, September 13, flew by!  Sam did a pretty awkward, but hilarious, rendition of the communication at the university powerpoint, and there was a ton of questions.  Students wanted to know about how to appropriately greet teachers in emails, how to make an email signature, and how to form the relationships that can eventually result in a letter of rec.  Sam, Jonah, and I each spoke from our experiences, which were pretty similar.  We used specific examples to make sure the students understood what we were telling them.  We mentioned how to start conversations that are not painfully awkward with teachers, and where to make the fancy OSU email signature online, and what to include in these.

Next, Jonah and I performed two skits in front of the students to further convey appropriate means of communication.  One skit dealt with requesting a letter of rec, and the other dealt with trying to add a class multiple weeks into a semester.  We purposefully were pretty bad in both our acting and portrayal of the students in the situation.  However, we stayed true to how we felt most professors would respond.  No letter of rec was given, and no class was added that day.  Following our performance, we opened the floor to suggestions from students on what went wrong, and how to remedy the situation to possibly lead to a better outcome.  From these, they learned how to handle such situations in their collegiate careers.  Hopefully their Honors Contracts keeps them out of scheduling trouble, however!

Thursday, September 14’s training was heavy.  We discussed transition challenges.  We listened to an experienced mentor present hers, and two new mentors gave theirs a run-through.  I was one of those two.  My topic was the struggles that I have faced with mental health, particularly my OCD. It is something that I have just recently began discussing so openly, and it is difficult… but SO LIBERATING to be able to do!  I received positive feedback on my presentation, which felt even better.

I am excited to actually present my transition challenge in this coming week, as I know freshmen students can be on their own for the first time, and fighting a mental disorder away from home was the hardest thing I have ever done… and am still doing.

Being in a freshman survey class the last two weeks has definitely been bittersweet.

I remember walking into my freshmen survey as if it was yesterday.  I can recall wandering the halls of the Journalism Building searching for my classroom.  Back then, the halls felt like a maize.  However, having a class in there every semester since then has taught me that there is actually only four halls in the shape of a square on every floor… if this does not describe the overwhelming feeling of starting college, I do not know what does!  I remember walking into the classroom thinking, “Why am I here?  Can’t I just read this stuff online?” and, “Who are those kids up there? They can’t be freshmen!”  Sure enough, they were my peer mentors.  I clearly remember the mentors introducing themselves, and micro-analyzing every word that they spoke.  I took mental notes of the do’s and do-not’s, and picked out qualities of each I aspired to emulate in my college career.

And, that’s what brought me here.

My peer mentors were amazing individuals and instilled in me a sense of moral obligation to be the same example to new freshmen as they were to me.  That being said, I have done my best every second of the last week that I was in training, or the survey class itself.

Week One was definitely a little chaotic, and awkward at times.  I attended convocation with Rachel Steele’s freshmen on Monday, August 21, 2017.  Many of the freshmen were a little winded from hiking from South Campus to the business school, as they had absolutely no idea just how expansive their new home was.  Despite the heavy breathing, they all showed up with a nervous smile ready to meet their fellow honors students.  The peer mentors in attendance introduced themselves to the students and shared an embarrassing or funny fact about their first week at Ohio State.  I made sure to inform the new students that Scott Dining Hall has an ice cream machine, but that sometimes it malfunctions; like that one time freshmen year when it sprayed all over my new sweater (it was not funny at the time).  Rachel then had the freshmen write a note to themselves that she will mail to them upon graduation, and seeing the look of wander and perplex on their face was pretty cute, I must say.  I knew exactly what they were thinking- that four years was so far away.

Sadly, it’s not far away.  At all.  Like, really, it’s right around the corner, ready to sneak up when you least expect it.

After convocation, the next time I saw some of my new students was Wednesday, August 23, 2017; the second day of classes.  They looked exhausted from the last day, and probably had some of the same thoughts I did when I walked into my freshmen survey class two entire years ago.  Peer mentors introduced themselves more thoroughly than we did Monday, and participated in a few ice-breakers.  I really enjoyed getting to meet the students and hearing about what dorm they were in, or what awful math class they are starting.  I started to pin-point the students that said they were interested in law school as potential targets of my plethora of knowledge on the subject, as I am in the process of applying! All in all, this day was really about making sure the students were comfortable and had a solid understanding of what they were doing in a survey class.  Their “why am I here” questions were answered excellently by Rachel, as Denise Allman did my freshman year.

Unfortunately, during week one I did not attend peer mentor training on Monday due to a conflict at work, or Thursday, when I was lucky enough to catch the stomach flu! At least I got that out of the way for the year.

Moving on to week two, I came to class Wednesday, August 30, 2017 with my Starbucks caffeine-rush in full-effect.  I arrived 15 minutes prior to the start of the class and chatted with the freshman about their first week of college.  Most of the responses I got were blank stares of students who clearly did not have a caffeine rush.  But, that’s to be expected at 9 a.m. on “hump day.”  There was a few students that asked me for advice on where to go grab a few groceries, or where to print some papers.  I was happy to share my knowledge of the university with them, as I bombarded my peer mentors with questions all semester during my freshman fall.  We talked about their roommates, whether or not they were homesick yet, and if they had ventured to that troublesome ice cream machine in Scott.  I wanted them to know that I was one of them, and there because I want their transition into college to be as smooth as possible.

Finally, Rachel came to class and got everyone in order.  During the session, we discussed Just Mercy  by Bryan Stevenson, the book they were given over the summer.  Although I had not read it, I watched a TEDTalk conducted by Stevenson himself.  It was fascinating, especially since I am interested in law.  The students had some very interesting insights on themes covered in the book.  They were so respectful of the diversity in the classroom,  as well.  I was honestly surprised that discussing race in combination with America’s justice system went so well.  I was proud of their maturity!

The next day, Thursday, August 31, 2017, I attended peer mentor training.  We discussed the general education requirements of the Honors College for B.A. and B.S. students, as well as Academic Plans.  I found the session to be a good reminder of the things I had learned and referenced while completing my Honors Contract in March 2017.  I am looking forward to helping students understand these things during week three, as I remember being so confused and nagging my peer mentors to explain the guidelines better.  Thankfully, they helped me gain this understanding, and I will do the same for these new freshman.

Finally, I hosted a peer mentor event at Fox in the Snow Cafe here in Columbus on Sunday, September 3, 2017.  Two girls attended and I was so happy to answer their questions… and show them where the best cinnamon roll in the world is made.  They asked me about how to properly establish relationships with teachers to secure possible letters of recommendation down the road, and about relationships with significant others and roommates, as well.  I spoke from my own experience over the last two years.  One of the girls was interested in law school, so we decided to meet again to go over more specifics so she can get a better idea of whether or not law school is something she wants to consider.  They were such great girls and reminded me a lot of my freshmen self.  I encouraged them to reach out to me down the line with any questions they might have about Carmen, classes, scheduling, or just life in general.

So, me sounding so positive may make one wonder where the bitter in bittersweet is in all of this?

Well, seeing these young adults starting their college careers has made me realize just how fast the time has flown by here at the greatest school in the entire universe, in my humble opinion. I am graduating a year early, so this is my last fall here!  I know how much joy Ohio State has given me, and I hope these kids find the same bliss here.  I will do whatever I can to ensure this.