When I began college, my circumstances were different than most. I was twice the age of the average freshman, a single mom with four children at home, and domestic violence survivor. After completing most of 9th grade my ADHD reached a point I couldn’t handle the “chaos” of public school any longer, so I quit. Later I earned an adult diploma, but my confidence concerning anything related to school was non-existent.
UVU has a requirement that all beginning freshmen must talk to an academic advisor before registering for any classes. Grudgingly, I went and told her my story, hopes, and fears; definitely more than was needed. My advisor explained I needed to take a student success class with Tiffany Youst. She then looked up and wrote down the CRN#, made sure I didn’t need anything else, and sent me on my way.
Student Success turned into my favorite class. I learned how to “do” school. The two class mentors helped facilitate as well as being available if students needed help with anything. Shadow and Shyanne were half my age yet I looked up to, …show more content…
Using “Mentoring Programs: A Framework to Inform Program Development, Research, and Evaluation” (2006) I realized that the term “peer mentoring” has been used to describe a variety of different things, such as cross-age peer mentoring, peer tutoring, and peer education to name a few (Karcher et al., 2006, p. 712). Dictionary.com defines the word peer as: “a person who is equal to another in abilities, qualifications, age, background, and social status.” It also defines the word mentor as: “1) A wise and trusted counselor or teacher. 2) An influential senior sponsor or supporter” (n.d.). This definition is reflected in the Peer Mentor Companion where it states “A peer mentor is not just any student, but is rather a student who has learned from experience and has developed skills to successfully guide other students through college” (2008, p.
UVU has a requirement that all beginning freshmen must talk to an academic advisor before registering for any classes. Grudgingly, I went and told her my story, hopes, and fears; definitely more than was needed. My advisor explained I needed to take a student success class with Tiffany Youst. She then looked up and wrote down the CRN#, made sure I didn’t need anything else, and sent me on my way.
Student Success turned into my favorite class. I learned how to “do” school. The two class mentors helped facilitate as well as being available if students needed help with anything. Shadow and Shyanne were half my age yet I looked up to, …show more content…
Using “Mentoring Programs: A Framework to Inform Program Development, Research, and Evaluation” (2006) I realized that the term “peer mentoring” has been used to describe a variety of different things, such as cross-age peer mentoring, peer tutoring, and peer education to name a few (Karcher et al., 2006, p. 712). Dictionary.com defines the word peer as: “a person who is equal to another in abilities, qualifications, age, background, and social status.” It also defines the word mentor as: “1) A wise and trusted counselor or teacher. 2) An influential senior sponsor or supporter” (n.d.). This definition is reflected in the Peer Mentor Companion where it states “A peer mentor is not just any student, but is rather a student who has learned from experience and has developed skills to successfully guide other students through college” (2008, p.