As a second year scholar within the Advocates for Community and Education program, I chose to become a mentor for a first year member! I was matched with Giuliana Gechelin, an intelligent and determined freshmen. At the beginning of the autumn semester Giuliana was a neuroscience major like me! As the semester progressed Giuliana discovered her passion within neurology was the field of psychology and changed her major to reflect that! She is now a psychology major with two minors… I wasn’t kidding when I said she was determined. On difference between the two of us is that I am on a pre-medical track and she is on a pre-law track! While I take courses targeting the physical sciences, organic chemistry, biology, Giuliana takes on courses that challenge societal views. She hopes to one day become an environmental lawyer. This dream is reflected in her two minors legal foundations of society and society and natural resources. In addition to both being fascinated in the study of the mind, we are both big fans of dogs. To be honest, I don’t know a single person who isn’t a fan of dogs. However, our love for pups is shown through support of service dog organizations. I train service dogs for 4Paws and Giuliana hopes to become a puppy sitter for Guiding Eyes for the Blind.
When I first spoke with Giuliana she was living with her fellow ACES on campus, however, as time went on and the pandemic continued she decided to go home for the remainder of the semester. Whilst home, Giuliana adopted an Australian shepherd puppy, volunteered, and completed all coursework remotely. Over the course of her freshman year Giuliana grew tremendously both emotionally and academically, she has adapted to many situations and hasn’t complained. Furthermore, not only did Giuliana change her major, she added two minors! She has been an amazing mentor and I cannot wait to see her continual growth throughout the rest of her undergraduate time and into law school.
As a mentor, I also reevaluated myself. I wanted to make sure that I felt ready to mentor a first year, and that I knew had all proper resources at hand. In the process of guiding Giuliana through the trials and tribulations of a covid era freshman year, I saw personal growth within myself. I became more confident in my abilities to support others, learned more about the pre-law track, utilized new forms of stress relief, like meditation (at Giuliana’s recommendation), and developed my leadership skills. I learned the value of empathy, patience, confidence, and developed a passion for guiding others through both good and bad times. This mentorship program strengthened my love for medicine and had me dreaming of one day leading a team of doctors in developing a treatment plan.
In terms of how I mentored Giuliana, I offered her support during her transfer from neuroscience to psychology. I gave her contact information of a few friends in psychology and a fellow ACES scholar that is in neuroscience and pre-law. Also, I assisted Giuliana in understanding service dog organizations and provided support to her when she moved off of campus and felt disconnected from other ACES and OSU students. She was worried how moving off campus would change her involvement and impact her friendships. Ultimately, Giuliana made it her goal to get involved in all the clubs next year, when things will be back in person (fingers crossed). I recommend all ACES take the mentorship program into account, because through this year I not only gained a friend, I unconverted a sense of leadership I never new I had and gained so much knowledge about other fields of study. I believe that I am a smarter, stronger and more responsible person after this experience and am very grateful for all that the ACES program has offered me over these past two years. ACES will always hold a special place in my heart, not only for the mentorship program but for the friends I gained, memories I made, and knowledge I have gained.
Julia Nawara