Using Social Media to Connect with Students

By Nefertiti Williams

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The reason I became a student mentor was to help out other students. I know that from personal experience that it is much easier to talk to another student than a teacher or advisor. When I became a student mentor I had to learn to balance my responsibilities. I learned how to juggle homework and school projects with my mentor duties.

To connect with my students more I used Facebook. Students get on Facebook frequently. Students get Facebook more than their emails. Another reason why I chose is because Facebook lets you make private groups. I made a group exclusive to the SD 10 class I was mentoring. I posted pictures of fliers from around the school. The fliers contained event, workshops, and other projects that I thought the students would find useful. Facebook also made it easier to communicate with my students. They could easily send me messages and know that I received them unlike emails.

My experience as a student mentor as been enjoyable. I like working with the advisors, communicating with my students, and going to school events. It feels good knowing that I helped someone learn a new skill or just was able to listen to their stories.

 

Nefertiti Williams is a second semester Peer Mentor in the Opening Doors Learning Communities at Kingsborough Community College.

Balancing School and Mentoring

By Leo Crespo

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As far as balancing my classes while being a peer mentor, this has got to be my toughest semester to date. Biology class takes the bulk of my free time. I have to take a lecture class that lasts for two hours and ends at 4 PM, and a lab that ends at the same time. It’s also quite frustrating to wake up four days in a row at 9 AM. The only time I have extra free time to do my homework is Tuesday and Thursday. It could be a burden at times. I’m trying to think positively so I don’t lose my sanity. Biology is my biggest challenge, but I’m trying to stay resilient. The lecture is a bit boring, but I do enjoy attending the lab portion since it’s more hands on.

I enjoy my Philosophy class. The professor is really quirky, but instantly likable. He makes us question our existence in society, which is the reason I chose this class. As for my journalism, I’m learning a lot. The professor is like a mentor of mine. We’re close in age so I could relate to him. He’s a huge gamer and wrestling fan, but is able to provide an ideal life for himself. He has a wife and a child that was just born. I look up to him because he’s responsible, but doesn’t change who he is.

The peer mentoring class is just fine. The professor really cares about her students and does her best to enforce them to learn. Some of the class is a little directionless, but a little push is all they need. The professor is very relatable, but at the same time gets her point across. I want the opportunity to connect with the students more, but I don’t want to smother them either. I help whenever I can, but I’ll never get in the way of the professor.

Midterms were a rough time for me. Not the tests themselves, but studying for them. Thank goodness, I was able to get good grades on all of them, including English 40, Biology and Philosophy. I made it my mission to study for them each when I had the free time. In order to get through the day, I just set a routine for myself every day so I could manage my time well. I keep a clear conscience so I could get through the day. Instead of overwhelming myself, I take it one day at a time. I just want to be the best person I could be and just evolve. I may be a peer mentor, but I’m still learning myself.

 

Leo Crespo is a Peer Mentor in the Opening Doors Learning Communities at Kingsborough Community College, where he is studying as a Journalism major.

Reflecting on Growth

By Daniel E. Lozano

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At the end of a semester I like to sit back and look back at how my semester went. But when looking back this time I realized I saw something interesting: I saw growth. Not just in the class I worked with, but in myself as well.

I saw the group grow over the whole semester by starting with smaller interactions between each other, asking a few questions at a time and gradually break the silence in the room. At the start everyone was nervous and shy, much like I was when I started. At first, when they met me, they weren’t quite sure how to approach me. They saw me on par with the professor I was working with. It felt weird at first, but to break the ice I decided to start asking questions that freshmen ask frequently. I wanted to convey that I’m a student as well and no questions are bad questions.

As the semester went on, I saw everyone slowly warm up. They started sitting in more tightly knit groups, then eventually just started to work as an entire class. It was a great feeling seeing that happen.

Then I realized, I also grew a bit too. I was a bit nervous just like them, but I was also trying to do my best. I thought about the stories the other peer mentors have shared with me and thought about what I learned from them. Personally, standing in front of a group of students wasn’t always my forte’, which is kind of ironic that I’m a peer mentor who stands at the front helping the professor conduct class.

I learned how to work through my own personal flaw by doing something I enjoy: helping people. My first few classes with the group at the beginning of the semester were interesting because much like they were, I was nervous. But as time went on I started to become feel more comfortable. Students were approaching me after class asking questions about facilities as well as saying, “Hey!” whenever they would spot me on campus. It’s a great feeling knowing that they feel I’m someone they could approach to ask questions and chat with.

So looking back at last semester was helpful because not only did I see growth in the class, I also saw it in myself and with that I was able to take a positive attitude into this semester’s course where I have been more proactive with students and glad to have office hours in which if need be, they could visit me to discuss class or even have a friendly chat.

For that I’m glad to be a peer mentor and I look forward to seeing how this semester’s class grows as well.

 

Daniel E. Lozano is beginning his second semester as a Peer Mentor for the Opening Doors Learning Communities at Kingsborough Community College.

A Small Thing For Us Can Make a Big Difference For Them

By Justyna Kulig

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When I got the opportunity to become a peer mentor, I didn’t know what this really is, what to expect, and how interesting and challenging it could be. Peer mentors work within Student Development classes, assisting a professor with connecting freshmen to the campus and helping them to make a good start in their new environment.

When I had my SD class in the first semester I did not have a peer mentor, so it was not easy to imagine how this was going to look like. For me, as a shy person who does not like to speak up much (and for whom English is not my first language) it made it ever harder to make up my mind to become a peer mentor. I remember sitting in a Phi Theta Kappa orientation thinking about it, looking at the mentoring requirements, when some stranger pointed out at the paper and said: “Do it!” I didn’t have an opportunity to talk with the person at that time to ask  for some more information, but somehow it convinced me and I decided to join and challenge myself.

At the beginning, especially before the first and second Student Development class, I was very stressed. I could not even sleep at night thinking about it. However, each next class was a little bit more comfortable, but still I need much more time to feel confident in being a peer mentor.

I am very happy I got along with some of my students. In my opinion, the key to being a successful peer mentor is to become a friends with those peers and build the trust. That’s why I like to meet with them in the cafeteria and eat lunch, or meet after classes and take a bus or train together, so we have time to get to know each other and so they can feel we are on the same page.

Someone may think that peer mentoring is not too helpful for students, but I believe that we have the power to make a positive impact in their freshman experience. Sometimes, seemingly a small thing for us can make a big difference for them. Inviting and encouraging students to join the school events can make that difference, because they will be able to meet new students, make new friends, and as result feel more connected to the college.

Encouraging tutoring is a great idea too. As a person who had very intensive biology class last semester, I know how difficult it was to keep up, and by working within the Student Development class linked with biology I am glad I was able to encourage a few students to take advantage of biology tutoring, because it is very helpful and makes the subject easier to pass with a good grade. That is very important in pursuing further the medical career.

Often we do not think about those seemingly small things that we do, and often we don’t even know how big an impact they may have on others. I remember how lost I felt when I was about to start college, because a few days before the beginning I changed my major and I was looking for someone who could register me for my new classes. I met someone who really discouraged me from changing my classes without even looking to see if there was any possible way to register me for classes that I really needed. It was sad, because I did not want to spend time in classes that perhaps were not going towards my degree. Fortunately, I did not give up and right after I found another person that was completely opposite, the person with a big smile that really cared about  my situation and took the time to help me.

This is another example of how something small can make a big difference. It impacted me so much and I am very thankful I met that person. When I came first day to school, I was sure and calm that I was on the right path and classes were chosen properly to my new major. I learned a lot from that experience, and as a peer mentor I always keep that in mind to try my best, take time to listen with empathy other’s people problems and issues. Everything that they want to talk about, I make sure that if I don’t know how to help, I can guide to someone who will do it for sure. I try to be the good resource that others seek.

 

Justyna Kulig is a first semester Peer Mentor in the Opening Doors Learning Communities at Kingsborough Community College.

Share That Light

By Terell St. John

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I’ve never felt deep down inside of me that I was ever shy or timid. However, everyone one around me would describe me as such. I must admit at times I am unfriendly and come off as uncaring, and the truth is most times I am. When I began my journey at Kingsborough Community College, I was this way and I can now say that being here has changed me for the better.

I used to think that having friends and people I could look up to and those who could look up to me was pointless. I sometimes would feel like I couldn’t trust anyone.  Not only that, but that friendship and mentorship relationships would take away from me pursuing my life journey. I was wrong.

I am learning everyday how big the world is, and that if you want to make an imprint on the greater society that you have to think big: in your relationship, in your work, and in every aspect of your life.

The truth is we are a community, a community of our universe, planet, world, country, state, borough, college, work, family and friends. No man is an island, and no man knows all truth. We all rely on each to carry each other’s burdens, to show love towards each other, because at the end of the day, year, life, we are all that we have.

People show us new things, some exciting and some boring. People allow us to explore ourselves and our values both good and bad. People test our patience everyday yet gives us hope to believe in our darkest moments. No amount of success can heal a broken heart and a lonely soul. I appreciate being a light to people who need that guidance because I have in the past needed a light.

I have needed a shoulder to lean on when times were bad. I have needed a friend who knew all my secrets and all my fears to help me make decisions that would benefit me. The only way that I can thank the universe for all the opportunities and doors that have been pried open for me, is to return the favor. That’s why I have to share that light because ultimately we are all responsible for each other and our futures. If our future generation is a corrupt one and instead of a utopia, we live in a dystopia, we would only have ourselves to blame.

 

Terell St. John is a second semester Peer Mentor in the Opening Doors Learning Communities at Kingsborough Community College.

Don’t Fall Through the Cracks

By George J. Hill

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I always tell the peer mentors that I work with “If you truly help just one student this semester, I consider that a success.”

My peer mentors are charged with helping 15-25 first semester students connect with the campus programs, activities, and services, and I want them to work as hard as they can to reach every student they are assigned to. I want my peer mentors to make an effort to reach every one of their students. When I was an RA, the Director of Residence Life used to say “I don’t want any students slipping through the cracks,” and now that I am in a position where I supervise a staff of peer mentors, I feel the same way: I don’t want any students slipping through the cracks.

As a peer mentor, you’re in a great position to help the students who are in danger of disappearing down one of those cracks. The best peer mentors learn how to spot them and grab them before they go too far.

See, there are students who will be fine with just a few kind words, and you don’t need to do much to reach them beyond that. Then, there are the students who take a bit more effort, the students who you have to chase a bit. I was one of those.

My freshman year was, quite frankly, a disaster. I went off to a small liberal arts college thinking that it would be very much like high school. I even went to a college where a few of my high school friends were going, and I thought things would be the same as they had been in high school. Of course, my friends quickly went off and made new friends. They got involved in clubs and activities. I saw them less and less. I didn’t really make new friends of my own, because I didn’t really fit the campus culture. I went to events, but never really talked to anyone. As the semester went on, I spent more and more time in my dorm room. I’d get up, go to class, and go back to my dorm room. I was not engaged with the college community, and nobody at that school cared when I left the following year.

My sophomore year, I transferred to another small liberal arts college. Again, I had one or two friends on campus, and again, I thought I’d really mostly hang out with them. I wasn’t really interested in joining clubs or activities. I wasn’t really planning on making new friends independently of the ones I already knew. I was ready to repeat the same mistakes I had made Freshman year, not knowing that by not getting involved, I was setting myself up.

The only thing that saved me was my RA, Brian. The moment I moved into my dorm, Brian came by to introduce himself. He chatted with me a bit about my interests, suggested a few clubs I might be interested in joining, and generally made me feel welcome. (He also reminded me that I couldn’t hang fuzzy dice from the light fixture in my room.)

Over the next few weeks, Brian kept dropping by, suggesting that I come out for programs he was sponsoring, pointing out ways I could get involved on campus, or just coming by to check in. At first, I thought it was a little weird, this guy just dropping by to tell me about stuff I should go do, but eventually I did go to some of the programs he suggested.

Brian was an excellent peer mentor. Going in, I thought an RA’s job was mainly to enforce the rules, and Brian certainly did have to warn me about that light fixture as a part of his job. Once at 3 AM, he had to break up a theological debate between me and my friend Mike, which had gotten a bit too loud. But I don’t think of Brian as being primarily a disciplinarian. Brian’s main job was to keep students like me from falling through the cracks. Brian got me out of my room. I could have very easily have disengaged the way I had at my first college if he hadn’t done that.

Just before he graduated, I told Brian just how much what he had done by simply checking in had meant to me. I told him that it was very important to me that he showed that I was welcome, that I should engage, and he was going to make sure I did. He had no idea how much it had meant to me. To tell the truth, he said, I was his first resident ever, and the day I moved in, he had been worried about making a good impression.

By talking to me, getting to know me, and continuing to check in on me, Brian got me to engage when I really didn’t think I had to. That’s the power of Peer Mentoring.

As you work with the students that you mentor, I hope you realize the power of what you are doing. A peer mentor can change the life of a student they work with, sometimes simply by being persistent. Even if you only truly help one student, that is a huge success.

 

George J. Hill is an Academic Advisor at Kingsborough Community College, where he oversees the Peer Mentoring program within the Opening Doors Learning Communities.

It’s OK to Say No

By Daniel E. Lozano

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In my personal experience being a student, a tutor, and now a peer mentor, I often have to deal with a lot of things on my plate. This usually leads into a grand balancing act where I have to prioritize different tasks that were tossed my way. So let me be frank: it’s okay to say no.

Now, saying no is a hard thing to do. If you’re a person who likes to help others like myself, saying no almost feels like you’re letting them down. But fear not, that’s not always the case. From the perspective of a student, you sometimes have to say no because you simply can’t do everything. Not being able to do everything is a big ditch we fall in frequently because we typically want to be able to help as many people as we can. But let’s be realistic, a student already has a lot on their plate to begin with. Balancing projects, grades, homework and more are already a lot to deal with. But when someone comes by to ask, “Could you do this for me?” naturally they consider it giving a non-answer, “Maybe.”

From the perspective as a tutor, saying no is key in teaching students. There’s a method to my madness and it’s quite simple. When tutoring, a frequent question I would get was “Can you answer this for me?” or “Can you write my paper?” and my favorite statement “Just do it for me.”

The answer is no. No, because I find it morally wrong to be doing someone else’s work. That and it’s destroying the point of the tutor. The tutor is supposed to help the student better understand the material. I did this by leading my students to the answer. “I won’t tell you the answer because you won’t learn. But, I can help you find the answer and tell you if it’s right,” was something I had to explain to my students. So saying no as a tutor helps students learn to not be dependent on you for information.

Lastly, as a Peer Mentor, scheduling is key, and saying no is something that is required. Helping peers is a great thing and helping out students in my class is always refreshing. I like how after class some students feel they want to ask me questions either about campus or about being a peer mentor. But the most important thing about being a peer mentor besides being there for your students, is time management. Time management is one of the topics we cover in the Student Development course that I mentor, and it was interesting to see how the class reacted to different methods of time management. Some said they kept journals to keep dates written, others set alarms on their phones. Heck, some even wrote on their hands their daily tasks. As for myself, I write notes to myself and put them in places I know I will check later to keep myself updated. Another method I like to use is making lists. On these lists I write what I have to do and the time frame I need to do it. This is how I keep my schedule balanced. However much like being a student or a tutor, you have to say no sometimes.

Since I’m a student and a mentor my schedule is very blocked and any free time I used to de-stress. As a result, in my free time people usually try to throw extra work my way. Now I usually don’t mind helping my friends by revising their papers or explaining concepts to them, but there are times where I just have to say no. Because my plates are getting too heavy and this waiter isn’t going to break some dishes.

The moral of the story is self-explanatory. It’s okay to say no. Sure, sometimes that’s not an option but in times that you can choose, you can say no if you’re already over loaded. You don’t want to burn the candle at both ends because then you burn yourself out in turn. Stress is something that is a serious thing that we try to keep in check. In short, don’t feel bad if you can’t help someone. It’s not the end of the world.

Daniel E. Lozano is a second semester freshman majoring in Media and a Peer Mentor for the Opening Doors Learning Communities at Kingsborough Community College.

Mentoring Can Be a Step to Being Someone Better

By Fernando Gomez

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Being a mentor is very beneficial for myself and the students who are around me who need my help (especially those who are scared to ask.) In this case, this story is something that you can see how the smallest thing can make a huge difference for someone else.

Some time ago, I was going through a new group of students for my second semester as a mentor. It was a good group of freshman and some were automatically involved in my plans to help them thrive in a college environment for the first time. Others… not so much.

Throughout the group, I noticed one student who caught my interest. He was a freshmen with a positive personality, but I sensed that he was troubled at the same time. He was hanging out with the wrong group of people, though it wasn’t too far from the point to where he could use my guidance and help.

One day I spoke to him to see how he was doing in his class as well as how he was enjoying his time in campus so far. We began talking and I found out some things that confirmed my suspicions. He was struggling in a class that I had to go through as well, though more times that I had liked. He had more struggles that I had imagined or better yet, that I didn’t think of.

I told him of my struggles and my hurdles that I had to deal with, and afterwards I started to explain to him that those struggles weren’t a mountain of a hurdle, they are something that he could confront. He had to focus on overcoming the hurdles if he wanted to get to fulfill his goals and aspirations.

But one thing that I was glad that he asked me right after our conversation was, “As my mentor, can you help me be better than what I am now?” I responded, “I had a feeling you were going to say that. I would be honored to.”

Since that day, he got better and thrived in his classes, so much that he passed with flying colors. After the semester, he became my protege and one of my first co-mentors, and I’m happy to say that he has changed so much since that semester. He’s done well, and he has a bigger future ahead of him. Not only as a mentor, but as a member of the Student Government Business Council. He is an example of how much you can better yourself to become who you want to be and how you want others to see you.
Fernando Gomez is the Senior Peer Mentor in the Opening Doors Learning Communities at Kingsborough Community College.

Welcome to Peer Mentor to Peer Mentor!

Hello, and welcome to Peer Mentor to Peer Mentor!

This blog will feature articles written by Peer Mentors, RAs, and other student leaders. It is our hope that the experiences, advice, and wisdom that  will be shared here will be helpful to you as you engage in your own student leadership role.

Some of the topics we will cover will include:

  • Balancing being a student with being a mentor
  • Overcoming (or using) shyness
  • Strategies for connecting with your students
  • Using Social Media in Mentoring
  • Why do you want to mentor?
  • Tools for Stress Management
  • Keeping your students Confidentiality
  • A kind of funny Mentoring story
  • A kind of inspirational Mentoring story

Peer Mentoring is a powerful thing, and this blog will be for you, the Peer Mentors, to share your gifts, to learn from one another, and to grow your skills.

Good luck, everyone!