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Reflection 11/15-12/6

This is my final reflection. In terms of Peer Mentor, we had our final training where we brought up suggestions and concerns for next year. I am very excited for the upcoming year and plan to continue as a Peer Mentor amidst my potentially busy schedule. I will miss my Survey class next semester, but hope that my students feel they can still reach out. I had one student text me a couple days ago asking if Survey counted in their GPA. Unfortunately, I had to tell them “no.”

Gabby and I are still working on the Major Presentation and will continue to do so until it is ready for next year’s class.

I am looking forward to next fall!

 

Reflection 11/8-11/15

I had my last survey class on 11/15. We worked on academic plans. I enjoyed this class because I was able to share my knowledge with the students. I used to be a biology major and in my survey, most of the students were either biology or biochemistry. I had created my academic plan as a biology major so in terms of planning, I am familiar with it. I am also pre-med, a commonality in my survey class that I was also able to assist with. I was also able to help students decide between two class options (Anatomy 2300 vs. Anatomy 3300) and hopefully give them more information than they could read about on the course catalog. I recommended some GEs I have taken and enjoyed. My survey instructor, Deni, was very appreciative of us peer mentors and had the class thank us. I felt like I made a difference in these students first year at Ohio State and hopefully impacted them positively. I encouraged them to reach out to me at anytime.

In terms of the internship project, Gabby and I got a lot done in the past two weeks. We are creating a presentation on majors and the resources at Ohio State that are available to students in terms of declaring/changing their majors. I feel like Gabby and I are good people to be creating this presentation because we both have changed our majors from a major that we kind of just picked to ones we are actually interested in. I am enjoying creating this presentation with Gabby and am excited to make some final changes and eventually present it next year for the new students.

Reflection 10/25-11/8

I recently had my second Peer Mentor event. I was going to do TRX at the RPAC but as the deadline approached, I noticed that some of my students still hadn’t completed their assignment. I decided to do coffee at Berry Cafe in Thompson Library. I originally had it from 3:30pm-4:30pm. Because it was the last day to complete the assignment I had about 25 students from all different surveys texting me asking if they could come to my event. I said yes to all of them and tried to stagger the times that students would show up. I eventually realized that it just wasn’t possible for all of these students to attend my event and actually have a conversation with me all within an hour. I didn’t want to turn any students away because I tried to relate to them and understand what might have caused them to wait to the last minute. I decide to extend my time to 12:30-5pm and told students to come whenever they could. This worked well for me and the students and I was able to have a conversation with all of them. A couple hung out longer than I required and some were itching to leave immediately. I was understanding of both types of people and learned a little about each of their lives. A common favorite aspect of Ohio State was the meeting of new people and getting to explore Columbus and in the same sense, a common dislike of Ohio State was its size and students’ difficulties adjusting to the large class sizes. I really enjoyed talking to the students and would be open to doing more Peer Mentor events than just the minimum two next year.

Reflection 10/4-10/25

Last week was the scavenger hunt. Students seemed to be filling out the entire worksheet instead of the minimum required. I thought this was a positive part of the project because I think it makes the students more aware of their resources. I know it might not be Survey’s job, but I also think students should be educated on more than just the Wilce Center and Counseling Services for health issues. I think all students should be told about the free STD on campus or even in the Columbus area. I think a lot of freshman are coming from high school where STDs might not be as prevalent. However, in college, I believe it is an important resource to know about.

I am completing my last Peer Mentor event on 10/31, the last day to get credit for the assignment. I met with a student outside of class for his Peer Mentor event because he texted me saying he couldn’t make any events due to class and work. I was happy to take 20 minutes and have a conversation with him. I felt good that I was able to help him and make his less a little less stressful. His many questions and interest in my advice also made me happy because I felt like I was truly helping him. I am excited for my event coming up!

Reflection 9/20-10/4

Over these past few weeks, we have reviewed how to talk with professor, time management, as well as schedule planning. I think the “How to Talk to Your Professor” lesson went well. We were able to laugh with the students and show them a lighter side to survey. I think they enjoyed that. We were also able to get the students to engage and act out an example for the class. I commend these students because I know how difficult it can be to act in front of the class now, more so as a freshman. I think the examples gave students good ideas on how to communicate with professors. I think manners are obvious and the students didn’t benefit much from seeing good manners. However, I think seeing how a recommendation letter request conversation or a research conversation might go helped them.

We also reviewed time management. I don’t think this conversation went very well, or at least wasn’t extremely beneficial. Perhaps in the students’ minds they benefitted, but I think a lot of them don’t feel the pressure of classes yet, or at least act like they don’t. I felt like I was forcing the discussion while the students kept telling me they were doing just fine. I think it would be hard for someone to speak up when their peers are claiming there isn’t much stress with time management. I tried to use my own examples to make everyone feel more comfortable about speaking up, but no one did.

Lastly, we reviewed schedule planning. This is my favorite presentation because I love Schedule Planner. I think it is an awesome resource that Ohio State offers its students. I hope the presentation was beneficial to them and they are able to schedule without a problem. I had one student text me after the presentation saying he couldn’t find the class on Schedule Planner. I told him to make sure he was in Spring 2019 semester and that it might be that the class isn’t offered next semester.

Reflection 9/6-9/20

I had two students come to my PhiDE event. We met about 10-15 minutes before the meeting started so I could talk to them about their first couple weeks in college. I found out that one of the girls lives in the exact same room as I did freshman year. We found this to be funny.  During the meet and greet, I explained a lot about PhiDE to them and what the application process looks like. I hope they apply because after speaking with them for 15 minutes, I think they’d be great additions.

We had a speaker come in to talk about undergraduate research. I shared my research experience with the students. Being able to share and talk about my experience makes me appreciate that I have the opportunity I do to get involved in research.

I have rethought my second Peer Mentor event. I have taken a liking to TRX, a workout class at the RPAC. I’d like to take a couple students to this work out class. I know for me at least it can be nerve-racking to try a workout class you’ve never done before. I was nervous the first time I tried TRX because I was scared I wouldn’t be able to do the moves, or I’d look dumb in front of the rest of the class. I think when you have a workout buddy to go with you to the class it makes the experience a lot less intimidating. I hope if students come to my event, they’ll be less scared and more likely to try another TRX class on their own time, or even try other RPAC classes.

Reflection 8/23-9/6

After two weeks of survey, there has not been much to reflect on. I am figuring out my peer mentor events. I want to bring some of the students to a PhiDE informational event. After bringing this up in training, Joanna emphasized how I needed to make sure the students understood the difference between an academic fraternity and a social fraternity. I am excited to bring some students to PhiDE because for me, PhiDE has given me a family of fellow peers that not only help me with my studies, but also act as a support system as we all go through life being pre-med undergrads. My second event will be smoothies at the RPAC. I did this event last year and made the students tell me a high and a low from their first month in college. I think that was beneficial for the students because they were able to hear that their peers were experiencing similar issues and positives.

In terms of class, we did introductions on the first day and talking about some of the GE requirements. I recommended the class Pharmacy 2367 as a second writing course for the students. I personally haven’t taking a lot of my GEs yet, so I don’t know how helpful I will be in recommending courses.