Our DST video turned out awesome!  I can't wait to see how much the freshman students like it in the fall!  I know that we have a great example to show them (:  Thanks to Megan for all her hard work editing the video last minute and Cole and Kat for being team leaders, as well as for everyone else who helped.

The peer mentor panel that we had in class on Wednesday turned out to be very helpful.  They had a lot of good information to share with us, and it sounds like we are going to have a really rewarding experience.  The question I asked was about what you do when you have a student that is leaning towards going home and discontinuing their college education.  The answers I got from them were ones that I was expecting, but I really do hope that I don't have to deal with this situation because it is one that you can't help as much with as you'd really like to.  It would never be a good thing to see one of your students decide to discontinue their schooling, or to be in a place where they feel they are uncomfortable and is not for them.  As I'm sure we all do, we hope that each and every student enjoys the college atmosphere and succeeds to their full potential.

We had a fun time at Allie's house yesterday!  I really liked spending time with you all, and was also fun to hear about the retreat and what activities we get to do!  This one is very similar to the retreat I participated in when I was a freshman and i had a lot of fun, so I am really looking forward to it.  Not so much eating the donuts off the string though (:

Hope you all have a good week, and also hoping to get those purple shirts!  If not, Kat and I will make a new "purple" squad!

Look where we're at, the semester is almost over!  Hard to believe.  Only two more weeks of class, then finals week; let the fun work begin (:

This week's class was about attaining higher education with peer mentors, covering a lot that we have previously in the semester.  When we made a list on the board of all of the peer educators we could think of on campus, I was kind of surprised of the amount we actually did have.  The university really wants us to succeed, and therefore gives us many resources to do so.  However, we have to take advantage of these resources in order to do so.  This is a message we need to make sure to deliver to our students.  In order to use these resources, you have to seek out the help from them.  Having a problem is okay, you just have to make sure to use the resources that we have here on campus to solve them.  Really, almost any kind of problem you could be having or dealing with, can be helped here on campus.  From a doctor's office, counseling, tutoring, living, food sources, to anything, it's here on campus or really close by!  This is the part of college that's really nice, as long as you use your resources, they are here for you!

We then listened to Chelsea teach us about the leadership article that we read before we came to class.  I really found the article interesting and am glad that we covered this in class.  It's really interesting learning how the brain works and how we can train it to accomplish being a great leader.

We finished filming out DST project today, which was fun.  I am really looking forward to seeing the final product on Wednesday in class.

See you all then!

Diversity Event: Charlie the "Trans-man"

I attended a diversity event this past Wednesday that turned out to be quite interesting.  Easten and I were the only two from the Hixson group that went to this event, and turned out to be the only two there as well that only attended for a class.  The other ten or so were from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender club/community here on campus.  Also there, were Charlie's grandmother and younger sister.  It was more of a communication lecture where everyone could talk and ask questions and share their own stories and journeys.  I was really surprised how open everyone was, and also open to share their stories with everyone else.  Being one of the two there who were heterosexual, I really had to put myself in their shoes with every word they said.  A lot of the feelings they shared I had never really thought about.  

Charlie was a female that went through his journey of transformation in college.  He is now a senior here at Iowa State and is graduating in May.  As a child he described himself as liking boy things and never really being girly.  He identified himself as a lesbian until he was 18 or 19 years old, never really knowing what transgender was.  Charlie shared his whole story openly with us, and his family even got up to talk about his transformation with us.  They discussed how it made them feel and how they learned to cope with losing their little girl and gaining a man, now Charlie.  His sister's speech really stuck in my head.  She spoke of how religious she is, and how her religion tells her that she is not supposed to love Charlie because of the way she is.  She spoke of how she had to overcome that aspect of her religion and realize that Charlie, whether her brother or her sister, is still her sibling and that she will love him no matter what.  To have such supportive family members really makes me happy for Charlie.  I believe that no matter what gender or sex he is attracted to, he deserves to be happy just as we and his family do.  

Overall, I really learned a lot from this diversity event.  I'm glad that I went to this, as it really opened my eyes to how someone who feels so different from the rest of us can be dealing with these issues and we don't even know.  To see Charlie out and about in Ames, I would have never known that he used to be female.  It just goes to show how everyone has their OWN story, and we need to take the time to listen to these individual stories in order to get the most out of life and its lessons.  

This week in class, it was my turn to teach.  I really enjoyed teaching the class with Cole this week.  It went pretty smoothly, as I thought it should after getting to see many of you teach us before we went.  I thought that the topic we had to teach is definitely an important one.  Having good ethics as a peer educator can depict whether you are an effective leader/teacher.  All of the topics we introduced, as well as what Allie and Chelsee introduced are all situations which very likely could arise while we are teaching.  It is, however, comforting to know that we have Debra, Allie, and Chelsee to seek advice from if need be.  Just as we have them, we also have the rest of us peer mentors as a group to talk and consult with.  Although Megan, Easten, and Sebastian have done this one year already, the rest of us are in the same boat.  We are all being peer educators for the Hixson program for the first time, and I'm really looking forward to the experience with all of you.  I hope that you all took something away from our lesson, and feel more prepared for these types of situations in the fall.  Remember that you can always consult your book for advice as well!

Tonight was the etiquette dinner that the Hixson Student Board put on.  I am really glad that I went because I really learned a lot.  I'm glad to have the opportunity to learn such things through this program.  She gave us some really great lessons, stories, and insightful information that will be really useful in the future in formal dinner situations such as banquets and dinner job interviews.  She was very knowledgable on the topic, and was very willing to answer any questions that we had.  I really enjoyed her.  I also really enjoyed myself at dinner, getting to talk to some of the other Hixsons and other peer mentors.  Overall, it was a great experience.

Hope you all have a fun and SAFE Veishea!! (:

"Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did."
                   -Newt Gingrich
The end of the semester is coming to a near close, and I'm sure we are all equally stressed out with the amount of tests we are having!  I know that I am!  Stick in there, summer is just around the corner!

If you need a little study break, watch this video. It sure got me to laugh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AMpugNjTKk

In class this week, we worked on some digital storytelling footage, which I thought was rather fun.  I really think that our video is going to turn out awesome and I can't wait for the freshman to see it for an example this fall.

Cole and I met with Allie and Chelsee on Friday to go over our lesson plan, which I think went quite well.  We had some good discussion, as I hope we do in class as well.

Can't wait for you all to listen to our lesson on Wednesday, hope you enjoy it and come with your thinking caps on!

This week's lesson was all about using your resources on campus.  I thought that Megan and Jessica did a very good job of coming up with their lesson!  I really thought that they put some very creative work into it!  Their clues for the different resources on campus were very fun to listen to.  I found it a little bit troubling to come up with unique clues for my campus scavenger hunt, so I thought that they did a very nice job!

I think that using your campus resources is a very important tool to be able to master.  Being able to get help in many different ways when you need it is very important.  It ties in with being self-reliant and being able to get yourself the help you need, when you need it.  If you are aware of most of the helping resources on campus, you are more likely to use them and to get the help you need.  Whether you are sick, struggling with a class or paper, wanting to socialize, help with a situation with housing, and much more!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter Sunday!

This week's class was very interesting for me.  We started off having a class discussion about the Harlem Shake video that has recently become the latest trend on YouTube.  After Allie had told us that we needed to have a discussion about putting it in our digital storytelling video, I started to wonder the reason.  After the discussion and the videos we watched on Wednesday, I now realize that we really shouldn't put it in our video.  I didn't realize that these people were that offended about this video.  I had never even thought of where this mocking video of the Harlem Shake had originated.  This is one question that I would someday like to find an answer to.  I really felt for these people who felt offended at someone mocking their culture.  I would feel the same way if it was something I identified that strongly with.  Overall, I'm glad that we had the discussion in class, I thought that it was a very good topic to discuss, and it was a very mature and interesting conversation.

The second part of class, Shelby and Stephanie taught us about our learning styles.  I automatically knew my learning style before we took the test.  However, I thought that the test was a really good and creative activity to do for the class.  I assume that a lot of the incoming freshman that we will be teaching might not know their learning style; it would be a good activity to do with them!  I really enjoyed them teaching class on Wednesday, I thought that they did a fantastic job!

I hope you all have a wonderful spring break this week, see you Wednesday!

Well here comes the end of another busy week, and the start of a new one!  The last week of school, and then spring break! I am very excited to have a week off of school, I think that we all deserve a break. (:

This week’s lesson was about how to lead groups effectively.  I thought that Josh and Brady did a very nice job of teaching class on this topic.  When we first listed qualities we thought made up a good leader, I really enjoyed when everyone else shared their ideas.  I thought that others came up with some really good answers that I didn’t think of at the time. 

One thing we were asked to reflect on is whether we think a leader is born or made; a good question to think about.  I definitely think that the atmosphere you are born into and the genes you are dealt do play somewhat of a role.  However, I do think that a leader is made.  Just like the traits we were asked to think of at the beginning of class…you can’t tell me that you were just born with all of those traits.  You develop them over time through experience and learning situations.  Everyone is their own kind of leader.  That is what I like about leadership, there isn’t just ONE correct way to act as a leader.  Everyone brings different things to the table.

At the retreat today, I really enjoyed Allie’s presentation on financial literacy.  I am not very familiar with loans, so I always find it interesting to hear statistics and learn about them.  I feel very fortunate to not have to take out any loans while I am in college.  However, I know that once I am out, I will one day take one out!  Another interesting topic that was brought up at the retreat was Sebastian’s article.  I wasn’t aware that undocumented citizens could attend college.  I guess I had just never thought about it before.  It’s definitely something I am going to look up and learn more about.

Good icebreakers today too! (:

On Friday, I was able to attend two sessions at iScore.  I knew that the event was all about diversity, but I wasn’t aware that I would learn so much. 

The first session I attended was called “Where are all the Men of Color?”  This session was all about this group on Iowa State campus, and just men of color in general and their successes.  I found it very interesting to know that as a minority on campus, it can be hard and maybe even a struggle to find your identity in order to achieve success.  Many men of color expressed in the session that they would rather other races (or the majority race on campus) not ignore the fact that they come from a different culture.  They felt that they should be able to embrace their culture, and we shouldn’t be afraid to talk to them about it.  Stereotypes are not at all fair, just as anyone wouldn’t like to be stereotyped or judged.  I really enjoyed listening to all of the discussions in this session.

During the second session, I gained a lot of useful insight towards race and what multiracial means.  I had always thought of multiracial as lots of races coming together in an atmosphere, such as Iowa State being an atmosphere of many races.  This multiracial session was all about racial identities of people that come from more that one race (multiracial).  At the beginning of the session, three pictures of toddlers were shown.  We were asked to discuss with a partner about what different ethnicities we thought that the children were.  At the end of the session, they revealed what different ethnicities they were, and I was surprised to hear that two of them had a very diverse background, and one a background that I guessed completely wrong on.  This ties together with the main point of the session, asking,“What are you?”  The students leading the session described what it is like to be asked this question.  Just because someone looks of a race, doesn’t mean they are that race.   Judging them by this makes them feel uncomfortable and disrespected in a way.  It’s okay to discuss ethnicities with them, maybe share some of your background too, if you know it.  Just remember that just because someone looks different or has different skin than you, it does not give you the right to ask them, “What are you?!”

This week’s chapter was about working as a group.  When I looked up the word GROUP in the dictionary, this is what I read: A number of people or things that are located close together or are considered or classed together.  Some synonyms are cluster, team, and troop.  I like that TEAM was a synonym because when I think of a group I think about how important TEAMwork is.  As the definition states, a number of people or things, meaning that a group can be any more than one single person or thing.  That is what is neat and also useful about working in groups, you can adjust the number of people in each group to satisfy the activity you are doing.  I think that in classes like we will be teaching this coming fall, that it is always a good idea to include group activity.  For me, anyways, when participating in a group doing activities that pertain to me learning about resources, college, etc. I get more out of a group experience; it seems to stick in my head for a longer amount of time.  I also liked reading about the ten things that define people as a group in the chapter, I found it very interesting and fun to read.  I am really looking forward to using group discussions and activities in my classes next semester. 

Some ways in which I find groups really useful (observed in Hixson class):

-Discussing a class question in small groups, then reporting from each group back to a class as a whole. 

-Doing icebreakers or small activities

-After completing an assignment, switching or sharing assignments with the  person next to you (Learning more from both of your experiences).

-Acting as a whole class as a group in discussion

Good job Sebastian and Brad! I thought you both did a great job leading class on Wednesday.  I really liked your icebreaker of asking the other mentors yes or no questions in order to determine which Iowa State building or landmark was taped to our backs.  I had never seen this icebreaker before. 

Our first activity we did was to get us thinking about positive and negative goals.  I really liked this activity, because when I reflected back on it, it really clicked with me.  When I tend to make goals, I tend to make them negative such as, “I’m going to study for this test so I don’t fail.”  I find myself making negative goals all of the time.  I really need to change this, not only to set an example for my students next semester, but also to help myself achieve my goals.  You are more likely to meet your goals if they sound pleasant and achievable.  Why would you want to meet a goal that is negative?!  This has definitely become one of my SMART goals for this next year.

Our next activity helped us determine whether our topic given was formative or summative.  I wasn’t familiar with these two terms, but Sebastian explained them to us quite well.  An example of a formative goal would be managing your money, you need to keep tracking your progress in order to determine if you are indeed saving money or not.  A summative goal would be studying to get an A on your next test; your goal has an end, which is determined when you receive your test grade. 

Overall, good class!  You all have done some great lessons.  Making it hard for us that have to go near the end of the semester, a lot to measure up to! Have a great week!

Interpersonal communication skills.  This is an interesting topic to think about.  It is very important, none the less a necessity for everyday life.  I thought that Coreen and Katie did a very nice job of teaching the class about this topic.  I really liked that they came up with scenarios for us to discuss in groups.  Also, I really liked the fact that they wanted everyone to answer to the discussion or give input. 

We discussed the difference between interpersonal communication and personal communication; also which is appropriate to use in which situation.  I feel like this is mostly instinct, however sometimes there are situations where you will have to decide which to use.  There is also a very fine line between the two.  I thought that when giving advice to a friend, I am more there for moral support; to listen and be there for them.  When giving advice to a student, I would also be a listener, but give more advice to them.  After all, that’s what we’re there for, right?

Within interpersonal communication, there are also helping relationships.  These are very important, as both parties are getting something out of their relationship.  One may be helping the other, or serving as their mentor, but they in turn are getting leadership experience.  These relationships are very important and can be very useful in life.  However, in order to have established one of these relationships, like we will with our students, there are some boundaries and guidelines.  This chapter talks about many, but the few that I found most important are: 

The peer mentor is a secure and approachable person:  This is very important to seem open and willing to listen to your mentees.  That way when they do have an issue or joy to share, they do.

The helping relationship is designed to produce change, and have clear structure: Describing this to students is how the book suggests letting your students know about this relationship in the beginning.  Then, as they utilize the helping relationship, they take full use of it.    

It demonstrates self worth and respect:  Both individuals in this relationship should have a foundation built in order to respect each other.  This is why it is very important to make yourself relatable. 

Overall, I thought that this chapter was very resourceful and meaningful to our future experiences.

How ‘bout that retreat today?  I had a lot of fun doing ice breakers with the other peer mentors today.  Not to mention, our digital storytelling is pretty awesome!