Mentor & Mentee First-Semester Interview

During the mentorship retreat event, I met Meranda Coleman. Meranda stood out to me specifically because we clicked with our personalities, interests, and areas of study; I was excited to find out that we ended up being paired as mentor and mentee for the 2020-2021 school year. We have hung out a couple of times, with other friends as well, and I have loved getting to know her. For our interview, I chose 5 questions that I had the most interest in asking her about. For the academics section, I chose the question, “How did you decide on the major you have chosen?” Already knowing that she was double majoring in psychology and criminology, which happens to also be the fields I am studying, I was curious to know how she arrived at picking those subjects as majors. Without hesitation, her first response was “Criminal Minds.” We both laughed because it’s a great show and a lot of people tend to gain beginners interest after watching it. But in all seriousness, she said that she had taken forensic psychology courses during her high school years and she wanted to join both programs at The Ohio State University because she felt drawn to it after participating in Buckeye Student Leadership Academy summer camps that took place on OSU campus. Continuing, I moved onto the involvement section of the interview process. I chose to ask her the question “What kind of involvement are you interested in on campus?” Meranda loves animals and loves to help others in any way she can. For her first semester on campus, she got involved with the organization “4 Paws Service Dogs” in which she hopes to one day help train these dogs to provide good service for those in need of some extra guidance. She is also involved in OSU Pen Pals and hopes for next semester to be involved in the Special Olympics for Franklin County, working with those who are physically and intellectually disabled. After this discussion, I asked her “Why did you choose ACES?” Meranda chose to join ACES because of her passion for helping others and making a difference. She also saw that students involved in ACES lived in Smith-Steeb housing which was the place she wanted to live in for her freshman year, so that was an added bonus.

Moving forward, I asked about her future career and wanted to know “What is your dream job and why?” I loved Meranda’s response for this one because what she said has also been in the back of my mind as something I would like to do one day. She said she wanted to work in the FBI or CIA because the job would consist of everything she has dreamed of doing, plus it would simply be cool! Who wouldn’t want to show off that you work for the FBI? Finally, the last question I wanted to know the answer to was “What has surprised you about Ohio State since arriving on campus?” A lot of people I am sure have had different answers to this question, but this semesters’ first year students might bring some responses that weren’t ever said before this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Meranda does love Ohio State, but she was shocked seeing many people on campus not taking proper precaution during this global pandemic. She said constantly sees people without a mask, people continuing to go to large frat parties, and a great number of students gathering on N High St. at night to line up for the bars. She hopes to see some positive change as Governor Dewine begins to implement more restrictions to help stop the spread of this virus. Based on all the information that I have learned about Meranda, I have already started helping her in choosing classes for second semester. She has to take some of the sociology courses that I have already taken to cover her Criminology major credits, so I gave her advice for when to take a course and how to prepare for it. I welcomed her to text me anytime with more questions and how I can be more of an assistance to her. I also try to text her when I can to see how she is doing and how new college life is treating her.  Overall, I had a great experience with Meranda and I am glad I am getting to know her more. Asking her these questions helped further guide our conversation and we would end up talking about other things that lead off from a previous topic. I can’t wait to spend time with her again to see what new things she decides to try out and hear about all of her great accomplishments.