Summary of Mentorship Experience
My first-year mentee was Jillian Bettan. Jillian is from Long Island, New York. Jillian is a Speech and Hearing Science major. Jillian is part of the Tridelta sorority, and NSSLHA (National Student Speech and Language Hearing Association) in addition to the ACES scholars program. Jillian is also a fan of The New York Islanders, which is a hockey team in the National Hockey League. Jillain is also a huge fan of OSU sports, particularly our football team.
Things me and my mentee had in common included ACES, NSSLHA, and our major. Outside of school activities/organizations, we also both had common interests in Tik Tok, football games, and TV shows. As this year progressed, we were able to learn about all of the different things we had in common. Jillian and I were able to bond over these things and use them as a way to connect to each other. There were several points this semester where Jillian would ask me questions about our major, what classes to take, what happened at the last NSSLHA meeting, etc. Differences between me and my mentee had included Jillian’s involvement in a sorority and Jillian living in a dorm this year whereas I lived in an apartment off campus. Even though we had differences, they were not too great to cause any harm to our relationship as mentor and mentee.
My mentree grew from the first to second semester by stepping outside her comfort zone and taking advantage of all that OSU has to offer. Jillian reached out, took a chance, and rushed. Jillian talked about how nervous she was to do it and how scared she was at the time. However in the second semester, Jillian could not be more happy she rushed in the fall semester. Jillian shared she has made some of her best friends through her sorority and that it has helped push her past her comfort zones. Jillian also grew from first semester to the second by learning studying habits that work for her. Jillian shared during the first semester that she was struggling to find a way to study especially while in the dorm. Throughout the second semester, Jillian shared she found a way to study by going to the study rooms in the basement and having group study sessions with her friends/classmates.
I grew as a mentor and a leader throughout the year by becoming more confident initiating conversations, reaching out more to Jillian, and by offering to help Jillian with classes/helping her with study guides from classes I have already taken. At the beginning of the year, I was very nervous about reaching out and starting conversations. I also did not want to come off as too much and as too overwhelming. However, as the year went on, I was able to branch out and go outside my comfort zone. I became more confident in leading conversations with Jillian, reaching out more often and also offering to help Jillian with whatever she needs.
From being a second-year mentor, I learned how to be a leader and help guide an individual person. I learned how to initiate more conversations, reach out often, plan activities (explore Columbus), and offer various ways of support. I also learned how to do this all virtually, which was quite challenging at times. Even though it was challenging at times, overall it was a very rewarding and successful experience.
The mentoring experience helped me with my leadership development by allowing me to develop into a better leader. I was able to learn how to become a better leader and what all that entails. For example, the social aspect of reaching out, the leader aspect of guiding and offering advice for an underclassmen, the planning of events/activities, etc. As you get older, being a leader changes due to the changing environment. Compared to high school, being a leader in a college atmosphere is very different. In high school I was able to be a leader in organizations where there were 25-50 people. However in college it is more accessible and easy to be a leader/mentor to a few/one person. It is harder to get into leadership positions in college and also the amount of people is much larger than in high school. This mentoring experience helped me with my leadership development by helping me learn how to be a leader in a different setting than I had previously been before.
I helped my mentee in the area of mentoring by encouraging Jillian to share her experiences in the Speech and Hearing Science Major with underclassmen or people who are interested in possibly switching to the major. I encouraged Jillian to reach out to other people in the major, underclassmen, upperclassmen, etc. and ask for advice but also offer advice about classes she has taken or experiences she has had. Last year my co-mentor Mindy was thinking about switching to the major. I was able to share my experiences, advice, etc, on the major and it helped lead Mindy to switching to the major. I helped my mentee in the area of socialization by encouraging Jillian to look at clubs, such as NSSLHA and also to reach out to classmates, even though she was virtual for some courses. I helped my mentee in the area of orientation by offering advice on how to adjust to the dorm. For example, I offered Jillian the advice of hanging out and talking to people on her floor and going to the floor events. This really helped me with my transition/orientation to the dorm, and wanted to try to help Jillian ease into the dorm/college life.
Benefits of a mentoring program are that it allows mentors to grow as leaders, and also it allows mentees to have someone to help guide them through their first year at OSU. Mentors are able to learn how to become leaders and grow their leadership development. Mentees are able to have someone they can always count on and ask for advice or just to talk to.
