Reflection

This week we talked a little more in depth about the campus resources that we have. We also discussed some of the situations that may occur next year with our students. It was nice to get a list of scenarios and talk through some of them with a small group. It was also helpful to get the list of campus resources, thanks to Kris. Our group raised some concern with the role playing activity. We felt like those were good situations to talk about, however most of them would be a case by case basis of what you would actually need to do. We ended up not having to role play so that was nice. The school year is winding down, and I can't wait till next year!!! However, we still have to make it through the last little bit of this year. I have started the pulling an all-nighter thing to get stuff done, because of the massive amount of homework, projects, and tests I have in the next two weeks. So sorry if this blog jumps around or seems random or incoherent cause I'm running on 2 hours of sleep and probably won't be much better tonight. YAY school :) Hope everyone has a great weekend, I will see you next week!!

FRIDAY Refelction

This is the earliest I will have done a blog post. I think that's because I'm going home this weekend and this is really the only homework I have. I have really been enjoying the weather and sitting upstairs for class was GREAT!! Chelsee and Matt did a great job on Wednesday. I really liked their activity we had to do. I think it directly relates to what we will be doing next year in class. We will be given a problem/question from the students and we have to work with our co-mentor to solve it on the spot. All the talk about scheduling is getting me really excited for next year! I can't wait to see who I'm paired with, anyone would be great. I like spending time with everyone in class. It's going to be sad not having Heath there next year, but I think Silas will do a good job to replace him. Well everyone have a great weekend!!! I will see you all next week. :)

Reflection

This was the second class in a row that I had a test start at 8, right after after class. So, yet again, I felt distracted and really was not all there during class. We talked about, then set guidelines for what our lesson plans should include/take into consideration. I thought it was good that we established those guidelines, so everyone can look to those to make sure theirs are up to par. The retreat was also very good. I really liked the scavenger hunt idea. The texting thing was really nice and made it that much easier to do. I also thoroughly enjoyed Perfect Games. I really think that I got to know some people more than what I already had. We were in a different setting that we normally are. We were having fun, not that class is not fun, but that was more fun. Just being able to relax and have fun with everyone was good. Also being in the smaller group for the scavenger hunt was beneficial too. We had a lot more conversations that really don't take place with the large group. Overall it was a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon. See everyone on Wednesday. :)

Reflection

Well this week was more interesting than most. I think that's because of the topic that Heath and Allie brought up. I think it is necessary to setup some of those guidelines before the situation actually occurs. Then no one can be impartial to the decision. I was really bummed that I had to leave early, especially for that discussion. To be truly honest I really don't foresee most, if not all, of those situation happening to me. If I'm going to drink it is usually at a small party that I know my mentees would be at. I have a girlfriend of almost 4 years and don't foresee that ending anytime soon. I am a social person, however I have my group of friends, and I really only hangout with them. So, overall I think this topic needed to be covered, for the just in case situation. I hope everyone has a wonderful break, and I look forward to seeing you all in a week. :)

ISCORE

I went to 2 presentations. The first was on "What are you?" It was given by two students that are from Puerto Rico, and they were asked all the time when they came here, what are you? So, they decided to do some research on this "phenomenon." Personally I was not so overjoyed by their presentation because I don't just go up to people, for curiosities sake, and ask people what nationality they are, and that was the basis for their research. I have a few international friends, or friends from different ethnic backgrounds, and we talk about their heritage or how things were back home all the time. However, I just don't go ask people randomly on campus. The only time I will ask is if I already know them and its really out of courtesy that I ask because I want to be open about their heritage and don't want to make false assumptions. For example one of my friends is of Indian descent and she is vegetarian now I don't want to have her over for homework or a study session and not have anything she can eat while she is here, because we often take hours to do some things. Now that's enough on the one I really didn't like.

The other one I went to was about the changing 'face' of affirmative action. Going into this seminar I thought they were going to talk about affirmative action in the workplace, because that is the only association I had with affirmative action. However, they talked about it in general. In the school systems and how affirmative action is moving towards social-economic purposes rather than ethnic backgrounds or race. There are a couple of reasons why I think I really liked this seminar. One is because the two speakers were not students, they do research/work with organizations that deal with this. Another reason was that the majority of the audience were teachers, faculty, or just older people. There were not a lot of students that attended this seminar. And the main reason I really like it is because they opened it up for group discussion like we do in class. They had us talk to the people sitting by us, and then brought it back and a few people talked about what they had just discussed. Heath and one of his friends were there, and that's who I was sitting by, so we had a pretty good discussion I think. I also thought a lot of the audience brought up very good points. One older lady said something to the extent of how the government should not hesitate to give out loans to college students because if you have a loan with a low interest, after you are done with college you can get a good job. With this job you are then able to pay off the loan, and its interest, and you are then able to pay more in taxes. So, therefore, the government is making more money because you are making more money. So, basically what she was saying was that it should be an incentive for the government to graduate students from college, and make it 'affordable' or allow them to get loans to pay for college because everyone is making out better. Overall, I thought this seminar was really thought provoking and I wish more Hixsons could have been there.

Reflection Semester almost half done :)

This week in class Kelly and I did the discussion starter. Overall I thought the chapter as a whole really sucked. It was really long and had a lot of, what I would deem as, useless information. However, the topic we chose from the chapter, and the topic Heath and Allie chose were very relevant for becoming peer mentors. I like the word-web. It seemed to get everyone involved with the initial go-around, then if anyone wanted to add more they could. I thought we had a very extensive list of things that an effective facilitator would need. Classes seem to be going faster and faster every week, which is good I guess. It just doesn't seem like we can always delve as deep into some topics as some of us would be willing to do, but what do you do. I am really excited for spring break. I really need a break, and I'm sure everyone else does too. I was also asked by and old teacher if I would be willing to come back and share some of the things I have done so far in engineering here at ISU. So I am excited to do that as well. On that note I am going to bring this blog to an end. I look forward, as usual, to see everyone at class on Wednesday!!! :)

Sunday Afternoon Reflection

Well it's a little after 2pm and I'm doing my reflection. For some people this might be halfway through there day, for me I just got done eating a bowl of cereal for breakfast. I didn't go to be till late last night so I don't feel bad, I only got 9 hours of sleep. Now onto more relevant stuff. Last week went very well again. I really liked how Amy and Amber did there discussion starter. The one part that I really enjoyed was the venn diagrams. I liked the fact that we could get out of our seats and do something while still having discussions with a partner, then following that by the group discussion. Kelly and I are the discussion starters for next week, and I think we will do a good job. I'm not really excited because we are still participating in the discussion. The only thing that is different to me is that we are going to be telling all of you what to talk about. I'm probably going to make this a shorter blog because I have a lot to do today, and I did this first instead of last. So I hope everyone had a nice weekend, and I will see all of you on Wednesday night. :)

Comedian

First of all, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to wait till after ISCORE to do the diversity blog. So I just decided to do two littler blogs instead, just to make sure. I went to the comedian in the M-Shop this past Thursday night. I saw a couple of other Hixsons there. The first student comedian was not very funny at all. The second guy was funny, and I think he was doing fine for a student. The actual hired comedian however, was really funny. He really did not talk a lot about race or anything like that. He made the few comments here and there, and really most of them were about him being black and his girlfriend being white. He did however, talk a lot about sex/relationships and drinking, which is typical college humor. So overall I think going was a good time, and I probably would not have gone had I not had to go to a diversity event. However, I really did not think it was a great "diversity" event because he is a comedian. He really can't have serious talks about race and ethnicity, nor should he have to, that's not his job. I am looking forward to ISCORE because that, to me, is more of a diversity event, and I think it will be good to get some incite on things I don't ever think about.

Technically a Monday Morning Reflection

So it's 12:24 on Monday morning, I forgot to blog yesterday like I usually do. Anyways, I think we had another exciting week in class. There is one thing I want to clear up, Lauren asked how me and Hannah knew each other. Well here it is, my girlfriend now of almost 4 years and her are best friends and live with each other downstairs from me. We also went to rival high schools and only live about 10 min away in different towns. So we have know each other for quite some years now. Now on a more relevant note, I really like the topic of knowing yourself. It really made me step back and evaluate the things I do in my life. I really think I am learning a lot about myself that I would normally not think about due to this class. I also like how class goes by SOOOOO fast. It hardly feel like a hour goes by each week. I guess that just means we are having fun and really getting involved in the class which is a good thing. Well I have some other homework to do yet tonight so this is it till next week. Have a great week everyone!!!

PS: Happy late Birthday Debra :)

Reflection Time

Number three for the reflections for the training of a new Hixson mentor. This past week was a very unenjoyable week for me. On a random note I just received Debra's valentine's day email :) I had a test and didn't realize it was going to start at the time we are supposed to be done with class, my mistake. So, unfortunately I had to leave early this time. However, on a more relevant note I thought the class this week went really well. I really like how Chelsee and Jenna did their discussion started. I like how it was not just a conversation piece, but also something to look at. Overall I think they did a great job. I keep saying this over and over again, however each week I see it progress more and more. Our class is really coming together and opening up, which is leading to very good discussions. I can't wait to see what/how we are discussing in the last couple of weeks. This week I attended the Hixson Student Board info session with Heath, Allie, and Silas. I think it is a wonderful idea. I really want to get involved in that because I really think it has the opportunity to change the entire way we view and use the Hixson program. I have a lot of ideas that I think will revamp the program to something it has never been before. I am really excited!! :)

On a completely different note- When we shared something that nobody knew about us I really could not think of something that was interesting at all, HOWEVER, tonight when I was brushing my teeth in front of a visiting friend of my girlfriend's they noticed that I bushed my teeth with my left hand. I am right hand dominate and do absolutely nothing with my left hand over my right hand, except brushing my teeth. I don't know why I do it, and when I tried doing it with my right hand it felt weird and I could not do it. So there is something interesting about me that I never think of, and I do it every day. :)

Late Night Reflection

This is my second blog post as a Hixson mentor. This one might be a little shorter because I have a busy week in front of me, and because I want to go to bed and its 3:30 in the morning. With that being said, this past week in class we talked about things we didn't know about each other. I really thought it was a good idea. With an activity like that it really allows people to get to know each other, which I think is crucial if we are going to be successful peer mentors. I think the we need to use each others knowledge to think broader and to see how other people will react in certain situations. We are going to get a group of students that come from completely different backgrounds, and will take different things away from our classes. Since we know that, we need to try to provide as much information that we can to help as many students succeed as student here at ISU. I guess the moral of my short blog is that we can learn endless amounts of things from each other and the closer we get as a class, the more we open up and share, and therein lies the potential that will make us great peer mentors.

P.S. I am really sorry if things seem incoherent and a little weird I am very tired and am having problems maintaining my train of thought. :)

Reflection

So this is my first blog post as a Hixson Mentor YAY!!! I really enjoyed the retreat. I thought that have more class time to really get into some issues was really nice. I'm not saying that class always needs to be 3 hours long :) One of the activities today was the "4 P's" that Heath brought up and we discussed. That actually got me thinking about how I do things. Like, how I spend time studying and, how I stay organized and things like that. I guess I just do what I do and really don't think about it. I am organized, my room is always clean and everything has its own spot. I could tell you exactly where everything in my room is at. However, I don't keep a calendar of all the stuff I do, I just put down all the stuff I have due that week on a posted-note and cross them off as they get done.

I also like the discussion about the drinking situation. I really thought that almost everyone there really got into that discussion because we are all "afraid," I guess is a good word, of that situation arising and having to make a decision about what to do. While that was being said it made me think of another, less likely, but more difficult situation that could arise and that's having a personal relationship between men-tee and mentor. I feel that it would be inappropriate for the first semester for sure, but after that who is to say that two of them could not be in a relationship. Because the age difference is not very big, however you were supposed to have a "leader" role for that person for an entire semester, and for that just to change would be hard, in my opinion. So, I guess I would be on the fence on the right and wrong after the class is over.

On a final note I really like how the class is coming together. I feel like after tonight a lot of us are closer to really understanding each other than before. Just an hour a week really is not that long of a time to really get to know people, so the retreat today (the 31st) was really good on many levels. I feel like we are all becoming friends to a certain extent, and I am meeting new people, and getting to know them that I would never have met otherwise.