Mason students prepare to impact incoming freshmen
By REBECCA DELL
Published April 15, 2011
 | |
Whitney Hammond will peer advise this fall during her last semester at Mason before she graduates. Rebecca Dell |
FAIRFAX, Va. – When Whitney Hammond came to George Mason University as a transfer student in the fall of 2009, she decided to get involved. Right now that means that she is training to be a peer advisor for University 100, a college transition class for freshman, before she goes on to graduate in December.
A key component of the training is experiential learning, or learning by doing. A recent weekend retreat at Camp Horizons in Harrisonburg, Va., gave peer advisors the chance to get to know one another and develop leadership skills through hands-on experiences such as a high ropes course.
Elizabeth Bernard, the director of Mason's Transition Resource Center—home base for University 100—believes that experiential learning is increasingly popular at universities around the globe because it helps students apply what they have learned in ways that will be useful post-graduation. Through situational, team-based activities, students learn to communicate and resolve conflict, according to Bernard.
Elizabeth Bernard, the director of Mason's Transition Resource Center—home base for University 100—believes that experiential learning is increasingly popular at universities around the globe because it helps students apply what they have learned in ways that will be useful post-graduation. Through situational, team-based activities, students learn to communicate and resolve conflict, according to Bernard.
Coupling experiential learning with a faculty and student co-teaching team is a focal point of University 100. Peer advisors like Hammond can offer first-hand advice and instruction based on their own recent experiences.
"[Peer advisors] are really a role model and a friend to new students in helping them get through all the things, both good and bad, that they have to face in those first few months on campus," said Bernard.
After working as a Patriot Leader at Mason orientations last summer, Hammond is looking forward to providing hands-on leadership where she gets to connect with the same students for their crucial first semester at college.
"People come and they go, but with University 100 you're going to be able to really, you know, impact these students and really be able to just be that supportive shoulder for them for a whole semester," she said.
"People come and they go, but with University 100 you're going to be able to really, you know, impact these students and really be able to just be that supportive shoulder for them for a whole semester," she said.
 |
New and returning peer advisors play Ultimate Rock Paper Scissors—where losing competitors join with the person who beat them until two final teams go head-to-head—as they get to know each other at Camp Horizons. |
 |
Freshman Harriet Flynn crosses one of the high ropes challenges at Camp Horizons. Rebecca Dell |
 |
New peer advisors Deqa Abdillahi, Jazmine Butts and Ji Hye Kim participate in a peer-led icebreaker during UNIV 300. Rebecca Dell |
Giving students tools for real-life success by Rebecca Dell
No comments:
Post a Comment