Friendly Advice

Friendly Advice: Senior mentors are a resource for first-year students

Peer mentor Jessica Bodenberg '10
and first-year student Brittani Hradsky
Through the Cross Currents program at Saint Mary’s, students develop their goals by asking and answering life’s big questions. The new advising program focuses on a single question each year that is geared to helping students think about who they are, what they are passionate about, and how to set academic and career goals that reflect that. 

Throughout the academic year, Cross Currents holds a series of events to help first-year students adjust to college life. The program recently held a panel discussion in which senior mentors talked with first-years about academics, study abroad, internships, summer jobs, and plans for after graduation. 

According to peer mentor Jessica Bodenberg ’10, “The goal of these events is to engage the first-years in a discussion about academic life at Saint Mary's. They are geared to give an upperclassman's perspective on academic life, from experiences with professors to changing a major, to internships and all little things in between.”
   
First-year students find peer mentors a helpful and reliable resource, someone who’s available to them at any time. “It has been helpful. It’s nice to have an upperclassman available to answer questions and to share her experiences...My peer mentor has discussed various majors and answered questions based on her experiences. She is always available to answer questions about anything—classes, majors, friends,” says Brittani Hradsky ’13.

Senior mentors encourage first-year students to explore a broad range of opportunities at the College. Says Emily Chittenden ’10,  “We each have had our own, individual path, and we hope that they will see this and want to have their own as well. We want them to know they can study abroad in any of the programs or take a health class even though they are majoring in religious studies.”
—Alicia Smith '12