MTBI

2:00 AM, and only about 300 words.  My three page paper is due in less than ten hours and I haven’t slept a wink.  I have known what I want to say for some time, but without the pressure of a ticking clock the canvas remains blank.  As the turn in deadline sneaks up, it looks as though I’ve made some progress; and just in the nick of time, I can whip up and turn in a masterpiece.  I have found myself in just this scenario many times.  Procrastination can be a bad thing for some people, but for pressure prompted individuals like myself, we enjoy the stress of meeting a deadline.

The exercises we did in class last Wednesday really made me realize what a diverse group we have.  We all have different qualities, strengths, and personalities.  The Myers Briggs Type Indicator gave us an in-depth description on our personality preferences.  I found my report to be rather interesting—I have a very complex and dynamic personality.   As an ENTJ, I tend to have a preference for thinking and intuition and prefer to use sensing and feeling less.  My personality is complex because many of my facets were out of preference.  Pressure prompted, for example; although I have a preference for judging, the facet indicates that I am motivated by pressure, like the challenge of keeping several activities running smoothly at the same time, and can successfully manage multiple activities when organized. 

Working with the other peer mentors, both this and next semester, is a task I am looking forward to.  As we are not all energized by other people around us, do not all focus on perceiving patterns and interrelationships, appeal to logic, or prefer decisiveness and closure, we will have to find a way to work together and make our personalities interact to have a productive and successful semester.  Perhaps my procrastination habit will not be the best for team work, if I am pared with an early starting individual.  However, I am sure that we can find some common ground and through the semester—even if it is just in the nick of time.  

Been There, Done That

     Been there, done that.  Peer mentoring is going to be a piece of cake, right??  I think it is safe to say that statement is not completely accurate.  Once upon a time, we were all a freshmen during that first semester. (Seems like just yesterday, actually).  I remember being terrified to jump on the Cyride, worried about making it all the way across campus in just ten minutes, and wondering how in the world I would manage all of the homework and readings.  Little did I know:  the bus routes go in a circle, the turtle walking pace I had prior to college was not permanent, and I would eventually develop a routine for homework—finding those cozy desks hidden in the library tiers was a true discovery.  The terrors of beginning freshman year were infinite.  Who would I be friends with? What if I don’t like my roommate?  How can I get more money? All of these things were the problems I, as well as many others faced freshman year.  It sure was nice to have someone to go to like out peer mentors to help us with those problems. 
     While we all may now be experts about some of the resources here at Iowa State University and in some of the areas we had issues with (Cyride, homework, roommates, etc.) freshman year, it is important to realize that everyone comes from a different place.  Next year as peer mentors, we may be faced with helping our students with challenge we have not really had to deal with ourselves.  So maybe giving our students all of the right answers and advice will not be so easy.  However, we all do have some experience with the terrors of freshman year.  With all of our experience and the things we will be learning in University Studies 311, we will at the very least know something about where to turn to find the answer to any freshman’s question or problem, no matter how big or small. 

Effective Peer Education

     As a Hixson peer mentor, I hope to be an effective peer educator.  Of course we have all taken that class where the professor stands in front of the room lecturing, having no real interaction with the student body. Day after day, he or she seemingly reads from the slides projected on the screen above.   Just how effective was that coarse, how much did you really learn or take away?  I realize that being a peer educator will not be as simple as making a few power point slides and presenting them to a room of helpless freshman.  Having taken more credit hours, being approximately three years older, and having the knowledge about successfully making it through that first semester will not make me the effective leader I hope to be.  Yes, knowledge and experience do play an important role in any form of education; however, chapter one claims the most important characteristic will be my motivation to help.

     The semester and mentor experience that lies ahead is sure to have quite an impact on all of the mentors in training.  The book suggests that we can be successful if we consider the training assumptions:  active learning, being self-aware, creating a supportive community, taking time for practice and feedback, and looking to our trainers as role models.  By taking part in these assumptions, I do believe that I will have a greater benefit from the peer mentor position as a whole.  I think I will take Newton’s advice to, “Think seriously about role modeling and the mentoring relationship.  Take risks to learn and be supportive of fellow trainees.  Be positive rather than negative, supportive rather than judgmental, and active rather than passive.”  The peer mentor position is not just about helping next year’s freshmen adapt to life at Iowa State, but rather a mutual learning experience.  I think that the peer education will be equally beneficial, and I hope to learn a lot about both my mentees and myself as an educator.