I’m currently a Peer Leader for the Freshmen Business Initiative program in Mays Business School. I am assigned a partnership, and the two of us serve as mentors to a group of approximately 20 freshmen. Along with being their mentors, we help ease their transition into college and introduce them to the core competencies to prepare them for a successful future and college career in Mays Business School.
I am in a girl-girl partnership, which is rare to the traditional boy-girl partnership. My partner and I have a great working relationship; however it initially became difficult for our small group to open up to us, especially since the majority of the group is boys. This unique group dynamic created a strong challenge, as the boys did not look up to us in terms of college advice. To bridge this gap, we set up one-on-one meetings with our freshmen so we could develop a more personal relationship and truly get to know them and vice versa. Doing this turned out to be a great idea, and it was quite incredible to see the difference that these one-on-one sessions made. I feel that by investing our time in learning about their backgrounds, struggles, and dreams, our freshmen finally believed that we truly care about their success and well being.
I have also learned quite a bit about myself from being a “mentor,” and the positive effect my influence can potentially have. Initiating discussion among the freshmen has allowed me to personally improve my reflection and application skills as I give personal success and failure examples of our learning frameworks. Having younger peers look up to me and witnessing the strong impact I can have in their lives is one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Not only does it push me to become a better person, but I feel that it also helps improve my personable, facilitator and communication skills.
In the future I strongly believe that I will take the time to develop meaningful relationships with people and set a positive example. I am aware that it is not always easy to initiate these relationships, but I believe I have the power to overcome such challenges and use my communication skills to facilitate meaningful and reflective conversations. After seeing the impact I can have, I have a strong desire to motivate and develop people so they are able to reach their full potential.