My mentee this year was Ryleigh Evans. Ryleigh is from Atlanta, Georgia and is majoring in Human Development and Family Science with a minor in Education. She hopes to become an occupational therapist and attend grad school at either Ohio State or Georgia State. Ryleigh told me how she would take her cousin who has down syndrome to her weekly occupational therapy appointments; this is where she became exposed to occupational therapy and could see herself as a good fit for the job. Ryleigh said she is open to working with any age, but her dream would be to work in the pediatrics or special needs departments.
One thing that Ryleigh and I have in common is our love for service. We both talked about how we grew up with families that are very involved in serving the community. Ryleigh volunteered as a peer facilitator for special needs students during high school which I also participated in back in my hometown. We also both have similar aspects in our majors in the fact that we both want to help and care for others. For Ryleigh, she is caring for her patients as an occupational therapist and doing everything she can to help with a smooth recovery. My major is hospitality, so I will be caring for guests to make sure they have a positive customer experience. Even though our majors are different, both of our majors include an aspect of service that we value.
One thing that I noticed from first semester to second is the new things Ryleigh joined on campus. Second semester, Ryleigh joined Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. It was awesome talking about her experiences rushing, since I also rushed as a freshman. Recruitment can be a stressful time because it is long hours at the very beginning of the semester. Ryleigh said she really enjoyed the process and is really happy with where she ended up. Another thing Ryleigh participated in second semester is Buckeyethon. She participated in the night shift as a team captain. She had meetings twice a week where they trained her for leadership skills and brainstormed fundraising ideas. Her role for the team captain was to set up before the event and provide information to the team members prior/ during the event. I also participated in Buckeyethon my freshman year, so I loved hearing about her positive experience! Another thing Ryleigh started doing this semester to gain experience for her Education minor is FEEP (First Experience Education Program) in which she goes to a school and teaches lessons in the classroom. I feel that Ryleigh has grown at Ohio State by stepping out of her comfort zone and trying these new things!
I feel that I have grown as a leader throughout the year by providing advice to Ryleigh in academics and socialization areas. One goal I had for myself at the beginning of the year was to be someone that she could look up to and trust with advice. I wanted to make sure she felt supported in her first year at Ohio State because freshman year can be a challenging time for many students. I suggested GE’s to Ryleigh that I thought she would enjoy and would keep updated on how her classes were going each semester. Socially, I was able to talk about the different ways she has gotten involved on campus with her. One topic we talked about a lot on our first semester explore Columbus was how recruitment would be. I ensured Ryleigh that the process can be tough but, in the end, she will end up where she needs to be!
From this mentorship experience, I learned how important it is to be welcoming and approachable, and how to build the foundation of trust when being a leader. At the beginning of the semester, I was really excited to participate in the mentorship program because I had nothing less of a positive experience last year as a freshman. I still look up to my mentor, Paige, and my goal was to be the leader Paige was for me, for Ryleigh. The benefits to the mentorship program are to gain the leadership skills that are required for our future careers. In every job, it is important to be someone that your coworkers are able to approach and look up to. Being a part of the mentorship program has helped ACES students demonstrate skills that will be used in the future.
I hope Ryleigh had an amazing freshman year and I cannot wait to see where her journey at Ohio State takes her!