McDaniel College offers upperclassmen the opportunity to be a part of the First Year Team and help make the first year of college a wonderful experience for our first year students. I had the opportunity to be a FYS Peer Mentor for a science course and it has been the most rewarding thing I have done at McDaniel. I would not change anything about the training or orientation, I would do this each year if I could- it was so fun! The program and the experience is one that truly has made me feel more connected to McDaniel and it helped me find my niche. Being responsible for sixteen freshman during orientation week was not only a difficult but exhausting task. Not only did it teach me leadership but it taught me many life lessons.
1. How to be annoying and helpful at the same time.
My mentees can tell you how many times I have emailed, texted, and/or called them with reminders for mandatory events and our mandatory dinners during orientation week. It was ridiculous.
2. How to social media stalk without being creepy.
Most, if not all, peer mentors can relate to the excitement when we found our mentees on Facebook over the summer and learned all about them before even meeting them. So when we met for the first time, it was like, "Oh hey, I know you," because we already knew what everyone looked like #sorrynotsorry
3. How to step outside of my comfort zone.
The task of avoiding awkward silences, awkward conversations about boundaries, and trying to make all sixteen like each other was daunting but I think I succeeded. Ice breakers are the worst, but we did them. Mandatory dinners and forced bonding worked as well.
4. How to be assertive.
Most of my mentees are either the same age as me or a year younger, so trying to be an authoritative figure was a little hard.
5. How to function with less than six hours of sleep.
Waking up at the crack of dawn and then having a full day of events and then debriefing at ten o'clock at night, we were all sleep deprived and orientation week felt like boot camp. But it was still fun.
6. How to remain positive and radiate energy all the time.
I made it my job to make sure each and every single one of my mentees felt at home at McDaniel.
7. How to walk backwards.
This is definitely from the countless tours I gave, or when I tried to count all sixteen of my mentees while we were moving to make sure I did not lose anyone (every group has wanderers).
8. How to make small talk with parents.
How could I have not learned this, we helped freshmen move in! It was actually one of my favorite things that we did during orientation week. I got to meet and talk to each and every single family and friend that helped the freshman move in at my assigned area. Just seeing and hearing the different places everyone was coming from and how excited they were to finally be here was awesome.
9. How to be more organized.
I am eternally grateful for our color-coded and labeled binders - those were LIFE SAVERS.
10. How to love and appreciate McDaniel College.
Ask me about the McDaniel Plan, studying abroad, First Stop, where a building is, the phone numbers of the Wellness Center or Campo, I got you.
