This week was pretty great. The weather has been beautiful and most of the hard work for my classes is done. From here on out I only have to worry about 2 finals. This week in class we had a panel of former peer mentors answer some questions we have about the coming semester. I really appreciated their insights into different situations that they encountered. They say those that don't know history are doomed to repeat it, so it is good to know what steps to take when similar issues arise. We also watched the final product of our DST project! I loved every second of it. From the opening sequence, to the Rocky montage, to me accidentally body checking Jessica, to the bloopers/credits, I loved it all. It felt good to do some goofy acting again, it always makes me feel young.
The big reveal of the night was finding out who our co-leaders are going to be in the fall. I'm partnered with Coreen which I think will be a great combination. Hopefully our students are excellent spellers because they're going to have two journalism majors reading their blog posts. I'm looking forward to having a fun and successful semester leading our students with Coreen.
I had a blast at the retreat yesterday. I cannot thank Allie enough for having it at her house and making us food, it was great. Good weather, good food and good people; what's not to like? After the retreat I'm really looking forward to the Hixson retreat next fall. When I was a freshman we went to the zoo for our retreat which was fun but it didn't allow for as much interaction between all the Hixsons. This new format sounds awesome for developing better relationships with everyone. Also, adding a little competition into the mix is never a bad idea. I'm just ready for next semester to come already so I can start having fun and making a difference in the lives of some students!
Monday, April 29, 2013
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Social Intelligence
Happy late VEISHEA everyone! I love VEISHEA because it is a celebration of what makes Iowa State such a great university, different people from all backgrounds coming together in one place and working on common goals. I feel that the Hixson Seminar class follows the same process.
This week we talked about the kinds of peer mentors available on campus again. It was a nice refresher that reminded me how important a peer mentor is for young students and what responsibilities they have. Afterwards, we discussed the article on Social Intelligence that we all read. I found the article to be extremely interesting. The fact that we know exactly what part of the brain influences our reactions and productivity when around certain kinds of people is astonishing to me. My favorite part of the article was that it said leaders who create a positive and happy environment have happier employees and get more out of them. I would say one of my biggest strengths is maintaining a positive and relaxed environment. When situations get to tense or negative I always try to lighten the mood and get people to feel comfortable again. I guess I never that about my positive mood influencing the moods of others. I was also happy to learn that leaders who create structure but are more laid back tend to have the most productive and positive employees. Many people think that if a leader is laid back, they won't get any work done from their workers but the article showed evidence that disproved this.
The article listed some attributes that socially intelligent leaders have. I would say my strongest areas would be organizational awareness and teamwork. I think I'm pretty good at recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of a group as a whole. Understanding the culture of a group of people is crucial to being able to teach them in a style that is effective to them specifically. I am also good at using certain peoples' strengths to accomplish certain goals. I also think it is important to make sure every member of the group is involved and active in accomplishing goals. One of the attributes I would like to work on more would be attunement. I am a great listener, but I don't always know when someone isn't telling me what they are really feeling. I believe this skill can be improved with practice and look forward to developing this skill over time.
This week we talked about the kinds of peer mentors available on campus again. It was a nice refresher that reminded me how important a peer mentor is for young students and what responsibilities they have. Afterwards, we discussed the article on Social Intelligence that we all read. I found the article to be extremely interesting. The fact that we know exactly what part of the brain influences our reactions and productivity when around certain kinds of people is astonishing to me. My favorite part of the article was that it said leaders who create a positive and happy environment have happier employees and get more out of them. I would say one of my biggest strengths is maintaining a positive and relaxed environment. When situations get to tense or negative I always try to lighten the mood and get people to feel comfortable again. I guess I never that about my positive mood influencing the moods of others. I was also happy to learn that leaders who create structure but are more laid back tend to have the most productive and positive employees. Many people think that if a leader is laid back, they won't get any work done from their workers but the article showed evidence that disproved this.
The article listed some attributes that socially intelligent leaders have. I would say my strongest areas would be organizational awareness and teamwork. I think I'm pretty good at recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of a group as a whole. Understanding the culture of a group of people is crucial to being able to teach them in a style that is effective to them specifically. I am also good at using certain peoples' strengths to accomplish certain goals. I also think it is important to make sure every member of the group is involved and active in accomplishing goals. One of the attributes I would like to work on more would be attunement. I am a great listener, but I don't always know when someone isn't telling me what they are really feeling. I believe this skill can be improved with practice and look forward to developing this skill over time.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Peer Mentor Ethics
This week in class we talked about possible situations that we could encounter as peer mentors. I think this lesson was extremely important. Because no student is exactly like any other, it is important to be prepared for as many different scenarios as possible. Splitting into groups and discussing several possible situations helped me understand the large spectrum of issues we could enter in the fall.
As a peer mentor I think it is important to maintain a professional relationship while still being personable enough where our mentees feel comfortable coming to us with any problems they have. This combination is best achieved through mutual respect, confidentiality, and reliability. Mutual respect creates a professional atmosphere. Respect also makes people feel like equals which encourages communication. Maintaining a mentee's privacy will increase their trust in you and will make them feel more comfortable telling you about certain issues that they might not tell someone else. Finally, being a reliable resource for your students increases the trust they have in you. If you can't be a consistently reliable resource then they may stop coming to you with questions or problems they have. Overall I thought class this week was very good. I definitely feel more prepared now for the variety of situations my students may come to me with.
So far I have had a great time filming for the DST project. It felt good to do some acting again. I haven't done anything like that since high school. Can't wait to finish up the filming and see what the finished product looks like.
As a peer mentor I think it is important to maintain a professional relationship while still being personable enough where our mentees feel comfortable coming to us with any problems they have. This combination is best achieved through mutual respect, confidentiality, and reliability. Mutual respect creates a professional atmosphere. Respect also makes people feel like equals which encourages communication. Maintaining a mentee's privacy will increase their trust in you and will make them feel more comfortable telling you about certain issues that they might not tell someone else. Finally, being a reliable resource for your students increases the trust they have in you. If you can't be a consistently reliable resource then they may stop coming to you with questions or problems they have. Overall I thought class this week was very good. I definitely feel more prepared now for the variety of situations my students may come to me with.
So far I have had a great time filming for the DST project. It felt good to do some acting again. I haven't done anything like that since high school. Can't wait to finish up the filming and see what the finished product looks like.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Campus Resources
This week in class we discussed the number of available resources on campus. Everyone knows that Iowa State provides a HUGE number of resources but it never ceases to amaze me just how many there really are when I am told to think about them. I have only had to use a fraction of them and still I wouldn't be where I am today without them. Jessica and Megan facilitated class and did a great job of covering the vast amount of available resources that Iowa State offers.
We started by listing off resources that we have all used. Personally, the one resource that helped me the most over the years was the tutor program on campus. I had a tutor for a Spanish class I took my sophomore year. It was a great way of practicing what I learned outside of class and in a more private situation. I never would've succeeded in that class without a tutor. It is these kind of experiences that will help us assist new students in the fall. Being able to attach a story to a lesson gives you more credibility and will encourage a student to trust you and your advice more. Real world experience also help us as peer mentors in knowing what processes work best for solving certain situations.
Later we played Jeopardy which I thought Jessica and Megan did an awesome job on. They clearly put in a lot of work into the preparation for this class, and it showed. The game introduced me to some resources that I didn't know about before. The place that assists you with stress and anxiety was completely new to me. Not only will I tell my students about it, I'll probably use it myself!
Overall, I learned of some new resources that will benefit my students as well as myself. It seems that every year at Iowa State is another year that I learn about a new program that ends up helping me immensely. You never cease to amaze me Iowa State!
We started by listing off resources that we have all used. Personally, the one resource that helped me the most over the years was the tutor program on campus. I had a tutor for a Spanish class I took my sophomore year. It was a great way of practicing what I learned outside of class and in a more private situation. I never would've succeeded in that class without a tutor. It is these kind of experiences that will help us assist new students in the fall. Being able to attach a story to a lesson gives you more credibility and will encourage a student to trust you and your advice more. Real world experience also help us as peer mentors in knowing what processes work best for solving certain situations.
Later we played Jeopardy which I thought Jessica and Megan did an awesome job on. They clearly put in a lot of work into the preparation for this class, and it showed. The game introduced me to some resources that I didn't know about before. The place that assists you with stress and anxiety was completely new to me. Not only will I tell my students about it, I'll probably use it myself!
Overall, I learned of some new resources that will benefit my students as well as myself. It seems that every year at Iowa State is another year that I learn about a new program that ends up helping me immensely. You never cease to amaze me Iowa State!
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Academic Success & The Harlem Shake
This week Shelby and Stephanie facilitated class and discussed ways to improve Academic Success. I think they did a great job of selecting activities that made the class interact with each other while still emphasizing the point they were trying to make. During the question of the day I learned that our class has a lot of varying academic goals. Numerous people in the class said that they want to get their Masters or Doctorate. I have never thought of continuing college once I get my degree. Having a variety of goals as peer mentors will be great for next Fall when we'll be dealing with incoming freshman who also have varying academic goals.
During the quiz we took I learned that I am a kinesthetic learner which I predicted. If someone shows me how to do something, I can usually pick it up pretty easily. I think audio learning is probably my weak point. If someone describes to me how to do something it can very easily get jumbled up in my mind and I forget some of the steps. It is important to know your learning style so that you can use techniques that specifically help you learn. There are several different study techniques that you can use for each learning style.
This week we also had a very interesting discussion about the Harlem Shake. People from Harlem are angry that a dance rich in culture has been turned into an internet meme. I understand why they are angry but I believe that the meme and the original Harlem Shake are two completely things. No one could watch the two and confuse them for one another so I don't think the videos were meant to mock the original dance. Political correctness is at an all time high now which is necessary at times but can prevent innovation or growth which I think it does in this case. Also, today's society is all about changing things and adding new meanings to things that had been left alone for centuries. For example, there used to only be one solid definition for the word love, now people throw around the word love to describe their favorite ice cream. Culture in general is changing rapidly with today's technology. Lastly, I think the videos only brought attention to what the Harlem Shake really is. I had never heard of the original dance style before the meme became popular. The example we saw in class of people performing the dance was very interesting and entertaining. I would definitely consider in an art form and I kind of wonder why I had never heard of it before.
During the quiz we took I learned that I am a kinesthetic learner which I predicted. If someone shows me how to do something, I can usually pick it up pretty easily. I think audio learning is probably my weak point. If someone describes to me how to do something it can very easily get jumbled up in my mind and I forget some of the steps. It is important to know your learning style so that you can use techniques that specifically help you learn. There are several different study techniques that you can use for each learning style.
This week we also had a very interesting discussion about the Harlem Shake. People from Harlem are angry that a dance rich in culture has been turned into an internet meme. I understand why they are angry but I believe that the meme and the original Harlem Shake are two completely things. No one could watch the two and confuse them for one another so I don't think the videos were meant to mock the original dance. Political correctness is at an all time high now which is necessary at times but can prevent innovation or growth which I think it does in this case. Also, today's society is all about changing things and adding new meanings to things that had been left alone for centuries. For example, there used to only be one solid definition for the word love, now people throw around the word love to describe their favorite ice cream. Culture in general is changing rapidly with today's technology. Lastly, I think the videos only brought attention to what the Harlem Shake really is. I had never heard of the original dance style before the meme became popular. The example we saw in class of people performing the dance was very interesting and entertaining. I would definitely consider in an art form and I kind of wonder why I had never heard of it before.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Ending Racism In About An Hour
I attended the diversity event called Ending Racism In About An Hour. The presenter was a comedian named W. Kamau Bell. I had heard of him before which was the main reason why I went to this presentation. The event definitely lived up to my expectations. Bell did a terrific job of mixing comedy with the points that he was trying to make. I personally think that comedy is the best medium for discussing issues that can be possibly uncomfortable for some people. Comedy helped Bell tear down some of the crowd's reservations which allowed for a more honest discussion on race and racism.
One of the main points Bell discussed was how racism has changed during this generation. It is no longer people out right discriminating against other races like it was during the civil rights movement. In today's society people think they are just being funny and innocent when in fact they are encouraging stereotypes and engaging in racist behavior. Another thing that has changed with this generation is that with all the technology and social media used by everyone, people are posting pictures of their racist actions.
Another thing Bell discussed is that white people need to own up to their actions. As a white person we should be proud of our heritage as well as own up to those of us that are ignorant of others. Bell said that many white people use excuses to separate themselves from other white people that have committed racist acts. Many use the excuse that they from a different racial group than the person who made the comment but in reality they are both white. We need to acknowledge when someone from our group does something ignorant and let the world know that we do not support or agree with their viewpoints.
Bell's discussion made me think about race in a more contemporary fashion. As technology and culture changes, so does racial discrimination. It is important that we recognize these changes and avoid discrimination
One of the main points Bell discussed was how racism has changed during this generation. It is no longer people out right discriminating against other races like it was during the civil rights movement. In today's society people think they are just being funny and innocent when in fact they are encouraging stereotypes and engaging in racist behavior. Another thing that has changed with this generation is that with all the technology and social media used by everyone, people are posting pictures of their racist actions.
Another thing Bell discussed is that white people need to own up to their actions. As a white person we should be proud of our heritage as well as own up to those of us that are ignorant of others. Bell said that many white people use excuses to separate themselves from other white people that have committed racist acts. Many use the excuse that they from a different racial group than the person who made the comment but in reality they are both white. We need to acknowledge when someone from our group does something ignorant and let the world know that we do not support or agree with their viewpoints.
Bell's discussion made me think about race in a more contemporary fashion. As technology and culture changes, so does racial discrimination. It is important that we recognize these changes and avoid discrimination
Leadership and Financial Awareness
This week Brady and Josh facilitated class discussion about leadership. The final question they asked us to think about is whether leaders are born or made. I believe that leaders are made. To me, everyone has the tools to be a leader; it is a matter of whether or not they step up. Some people don't become leaders until they find an issue that inspires them enough to become a leader. Also, how someone is raised has a large impact on whether they will become a leader or not. If someone is taught the values of a leader while growing up then they will have a better chance at retaining those values as an adult. I believe there are too many factors that make a leader to say that leaders are born rather than made.
During the retreat on Sunday we had a long discussion about financial awareness. The one thing I learned is that I need to keep a closer eye on my finances, especially now as I prepare for internships and graduation next year. I also learned that I should be paying more attention to changes in tuition and federal aid not only for myself but for my sister who will be going to college in the fall. I found a lot of the articles that the others brought very interesting, especially the ones that talked about alternate ways to pay for college. The more options you have, the easier your path will be. I'm definitely going to look into some of the things Allie mentioned like the webpage where you can see your loans and the government plan where you can pay off your loans based on income for a set number of years. I had never heard of that payment option before and it sounds like something I would be very interested in. Overall, I will be paying a lot more attention to my finances in the future.
During the retreat on Sunday we had a long discussion about financial awareness. The one thing I learned is that I need to keep a closer eye on my finances, especially now as I prepare for internships and graduation next year. I also learned that I should be paying more attention to changes in tuition and federal aid not only for myself but for my sister who will be going to college in the fall. I found a lot of the articles that the others brought very interesting, especially the ones that talked about alternate ways to pay for college. The more options you have, the easier your path will be. I'm definitely going to look into some of the things Allie mentioned like the webpage where you can see your loans and the government plan where you can pay off your loans based on income for a set number of years. I had never heard of that payment option before and it sounds like something I would be very interested in. Overall, I will be paying a lot more attention to my finances in the future.
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