Goals

Hey everyone!! VEISHEA 2011 is upon us. If only, like Chelsee, I did not have homework and quizzes all week long. Zach and Karen did a wonderful job leading class last week. It is amazing how quickly the semester is flying by. In a few short weeks we will be finished with 311, and expected to be excellent mentors!

The goal I came up with for next year relating to being a Hixson Peer Mentor was: Learn every 2011 Hixson by first name by the end of the semester. Last year I felt like I knew a lot of them by name, and could at least recognize the rest. However, this year I want to know them all by name. I feel like this task, despite sounding difficult, should be very achievable. With me leading two sections next year, I will directly interact on a regular basis, with a quarter of the students. Then another quarter will be in my sister sections. So, I should have very little problem learning about half of the students names. The last half will be the difficult part. I plan on attending almost all of the Monday night lectures. So, while I am there, I need go out and make a point of talking to all the students I don’t already know.

I have two more goals for next year’s class. I want to increase the interaction between my sections and our sister sections. Last year we had a couple of classes together, but they were all towards the end of the semester. I want to start the interactions between sections much earlier in the semester. The semester goes by VERY fast, and if you do not plan ahead you will miss those kinds of opportunities. I think increasing sister section activities will open up even more friendships between students. If they are ‘forced’ to interact with more people, they are more likely to find someone with similar interests.

I also want to increase how much time my section spends together outside of class. I know my freshman year, at the very end, we all went over to one of our mentor’s apartments and had supper and played rock band. I thought it was really fun, and our section bonded a lot through that experience. Last year, we really did not have a good spot to get together. So, we just decided to go out to eat at Hickory Park. Ideally I want to try and have at least three get-togethers outside of class. I feel like the students will enjoy it, and they will all get that much closer to each other. One positive about this is, next year I will have a decent size apartment, and could very easily have my entire section over.

This semester is going by very fast. However, I am really enjoying the time we are all spending together. I really like getting to know everyone and what experiences they have been through that make them who they are today.