Week 2: January 27

This week in University Studies 311A, we analyzed the first two chapters of "Students Helping Students," as well as participated in a few icebreaker exercises during class.

It's a busy week coming up for us peer mentors. On Friday, we will be attending two sessions for a workshop over learning communities at the Memorial Union. On Saturday, we will attend two sessions for the Iowa State Leadership Experience (or ISLE), also at the Memorial Union. It should a very rewarding and relevant experience, and I am looking forward to it!

The first two chapters in "Students Helping Students: A Guide for Peer Educators on College Campuses," our textbook for this semester, give a lot of pertinent information to my current experiences as a Hixson peer mentor. One concept that the book outlined that I had not really considered before is the label "peer educator," and all the various ways a college student can be a peer educator to their classmates. I hadn't thought about it, but besides being a Hixson peer mentor, I am also a peer educator with my College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Ambassador role. It's good to learn how to combine the best aspects of these two experiences in order to maximize my peers' success.

We did one fun icebreaker during class, which was throwing a ball that had several personal discussion points written all over it. We threw it to each other and answered the questions or statements that our thumbs landed on, all while attempting to remember twenty different names around us. I am getting better at learning everybody else's names, but it obviously could use some more practice. This activity was a great way to learn a little about our peers, and could be something to incorporate into my future classroom as an introduction activity!