Thursday, November 13, 2014
Peer Mentors
One of the things that helped me get through my MA was having peer mentors. The program I was in didn't have assigned mentors, like the writer of tale 101, but there were two students in the cohort above us that seemed to take on that role themselves. It was really helpful to have people that offered themselves as references for any issues that we were having. The fielded questions that ranged from teaching issues to adjusting to a graduate workload. Even small tips, like "Make sure you mark any emails you send to Dr. So-and-So urgent or she won't read them and you won't get a response," helped us maneuver through this new terrain. There have been students here at Ball State that have done similar things, though I think not having a designated community area from grad students to congregate makes it a little more difficult. All in all, there's a lot of help that grad students get from the department and the faculty, but there tends to be a certain type of information given by peer mentors that is invaluable.
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Agreed. One thing I've done at BSU is to watch PhD students ahead of me who are doing things I want to do. Then, I ask them what I need to do to get where they are. They always tell me, and that's how I figure out how to get the most of out grad. school.
ReplyDeleteThis is true! It seems like the Writing Center has functioned in that way a bit. In between sessions, we all always seem to be chatting about different assignments, teaching or tutoring methods, etc. I really appreciate the kind of "mentoring" that happens even among all of us that are new, but also what I've learned in casual conversation from students farther along in the program.
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