Overall, I think the Iowa State Leadership Experience was very beneficial. It made me think about a lot of the little things that could impact my leadership role that I would not usually think about. The sessions I attended composed of content about diversifying your leadership style and making sure our meetings measure up.
The diversifying your leadership style session discussed good practices to improve our leadership roles. Some of these practices include exploring personal values and goals, recognizing sources of empowerment and encouragement, better understanding of ones "self", and recognizing how leadership fits into our daily lives. They also discussed leaders that were not practicing good leadership skills, and described these leaders as sometimes self absorbed, not going out of their comfort zone, and at times seem to be burnt out.
The next session I attended was "Do your meetings measure up? A recipe for success." This session discussed a lot about goals and how to construct "SMART" goals, making sure they are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. We also came to an agreement that a goal is a subdivision of an outcome. This session also went into detail about agendas and how to construct a good one.
I thought these sessions were very beneficial, and have given me more to go off of in guiding my leadership experience. The sessions were very informative and I liked how they enabled us to share our own opinions on topics, so we were not just sitting and listening the entire time.
I learned that there is a lot more to think about when taking this role, it is not just being there, it is a lot more planning and thinking involved then one might initially assume.
One question I am not left with is what can I do to personalize and enhance this experience to make it more beneficial for both myself and other students I will be mentoring. I think the information I gained in these sessions will be able to guide me in the right direction towards achieving this goal.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Week 2 Blog
In last weeks class, we spent time discussing the problems and challenges our students could be facing in their first year at Iowa State. We all responded to questions that could very well arise in our peer mentoring experiences. While doing this activity, I glanced back a lot at my experiences as a freshman in a whole new school with all new people. I remember how frightening it was, not knowing anyone or where anything is. I believe these exercises we have been doing in class are bringing us back and reminding all of us that we have been there, and in a way, it brings us down to that level so we can relate more to the students we will be working with.
I can honestly say, that my first year in college was amazing, and the best year of my life, but I cannot go into this role thinking every student will feel the same way. It is really important to remember that each student will have their own experiences and are coming from a different place emotionally and physically. The exercise we did with the questions was helpful in seeing all the different possible problems that our student could be facing. I don't think we need to know the solution to every single problem that could arise, but we should be knowledgeable of the other sources of information that we can refer our students to and even accompany them as they look for those solutions.
Glancing back at my freshman year, I am still thankful for my own peer mentors and the help they gave me. I hope that through our peer mentoring experiences, students will be saying the same about all of us.
I can honestly say, that my first year in college was amazing, and the best year of my life, but I cannot go into this role thinking every student will feel the same way. It is really important to remember that each student will have their own experiences and are coming from a different place emotionally and physically. The exercise we did with the questions was helpful in seeing all the different possible problems that our student could be facing. I don't think we need to know the solution to every single problem that could arise, but we should be knowledgeable of the other sources of information that we can refer our students to and even accompany them as they look for those solutions.
Glancing back at my freshman year, I am still thankful for my own peer mentors and the help they gave me. I hope that through our peer mentoring experiences, students will be saying the same about all of us.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Blog #1 Peer Mentors
Chapter one of "Students Helping Students" focuses on peer educators and the different characteristics they withhold and services they provide to their peers. The chapter states that the involvement of undergraduates in peer assistance roles is occurring in more than 75% of all higher educations. Peer educators have been around for years staring with residence halls peer educators in the early 1900's and tutors since colonial times. There has been a rapid increase of the use of peer educators in the last 20 years in many different aspects of college and college life. Many different strategies and delivery methods have also developed, that I feel have improved the quality of peer educators in all the different areas. Over the years peer educators have helped develop more supportive campus communities and as a new peer mentor, I am excited to take part of these new developments.
Through reading the chapters I learned about the many different services peer educators provide. They provide crisis intervention services, perform diversity training, help with financial management, academic advising, making referrals, and much more. Peer educators prove to be valuable because they are experienced with the campus, are economical to college budgets, and as students, they can easily relate to other students of which they are educating.
While there are many benefits peer educators provide, there are also many benefits peer educators gain, such as learning new skills, gaining relevant practice and experience, and contributing to the community. Being a peer educator can also improve our leadership skills, interpersonal communication skills, and increase in self-esteem and personal health behaviors.
Chapter two focuses more on the impacts of the students and their maturation through their experiences with peer educators. The chapter defines many different states that students may be going through with the changes that accompany the college life. New students experience many emotions because new environments can create anxiety. It is also important to remember that individuals develop at different rates and there are many aspects that affect development. These aspects can include that persons amount of involvement, cultural expectations, social influences, impacts of the environment, compatibility between student and institution.
Overall, I feel this weeks readings have opened our minds to prepare us for all the information we will be learning throughout the semester. I am excited to notice a transformation in myself through this training, and I look forward to what the future of this program has to offer all of us as peer educators.
Through reading the chapters I learned about the many different services peer educators provide. They provide crisis intervention services, perform diversity training, help with financial management, academic advising, making referrals, and much more. Peer educators prove to be valuable because they are experienced with the campus, are economical to college budgets, and as students, they can easily relate to other students of which they are educating.
While there are many benefits peer educators provide, there are also many benefits peer educators gain, such as learning new skills, gaining relevant practice and experience, and contributing to the community. Being a peer educator can also improve our leadership skills, interpersonal communication skills, and increase in self-esteem and personal health behaviors.
Chapter two focuses more on the impacts of the students and their maturation through their experiences with peer educators. The chapter defines many different states that students may be going through with the changes that accompany the college life. New students experience many emotions because new environments can create anxiety. It is also important to remember that individuals develop at different rates and there are many aspects that affect development. These aspects can include that persons amount of involvement, cultural expectations, social influences, impacts of the environment, compatibility between student and institution.
Overall, I feel this weeks readings have opened our minds to prepare us for all the information we will be learning throughout the semester. I am excited to notice a transformation in myself through this training, and I look forward to what the future of this program has to offer all of us as peer educators.
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