Understanding Group Process

Group projects are a hit and miss for me. At times, I feel that I have benefited from working in a group. Other times, I had to do all the work for the project or people would fight about the minute details for the project. The times that I felt group projects benefited me the most were in science labs. I believe that science labs work well for group projects because the protocol is usually very well written so, the group follows the directions and there is usually a rubric. I know that it is important to be able to work in a group because almost every job requires some sort of group work.

I really liked the Lego activity we did in class. I did not think that there were roles while working in groups. The roles will allow for a project to be done in, hopefully, an efficient, organized manner. During the group project, I was the initiator. I was not very comfortable with the role because I had to come up with the ideas while others either agreed or questioned my ideas. I would say that my role in group project is usually the coordinator because I like help with the work but I do not like to be the one who initiates the project or ideas.

The group dynamics like the role each person will play, the atmosphere of the group, and good communication are just a few things that will benefit a group. As a peer mentor, I will be working in a group with others and I will have the students in my recitation work in groups. Understanding how groups work is very important in order to be able to help in a group and to help others whose group may be struggling.

Interpersonal Communication

Communication is, in my opinion, is the most important part of a relationship. Other components to a relationship, like trust, will follow if good communication is present. When applying for a job, the requirements almost always list the person applying must have good communication skills. Interpersonal communication goes beyond simply talking to others, one must listen actively and truly understand what the other person may or may not be saying.

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." 
-George Bernard Shaw 

The quote above illustrates what I learned from the chapter in the book and the class activities. I have been in many situations were I was trying to tell someone something and they did not understand what I was saying but I would just get frustrated with them and act like they were right. The persons I was attempting to communicate with were not paying attention to what I was saying but they thought they understood. Chelsee's class activity illustrated bad communication much like the situations I have been in.   

Different types of communication are needed for certain situations. As a peer mentor, I will have situations were I will need to give advice and situations when I will need to use interpersonal communication. I will need to assess which type to use for each situation in order to help the Hixson student. The book gives great scenarios and tips in order to help figure out which type of communication to use. The communication skills I have learned will help me build relationships and will help me effectively communicate with the incoming Hixsons. 

Enhancing Cultural Proficiency

I came from a small town where majority of the people had the same religion and ethnicity. Coming to college, I knew there was going to be a lot of diverse people. I was excited to meet people that had different backgrounds. I was accustom to a lot of people different from me in high school because I would go to Omaha, Nebraska almost every other weekend with friends when I was a junior and senior. In high school, I would just ignore the people different from me, I was not ever rude to them I just did not fully understand their lifestyles or beliefs. I was very guilty of lumping everyone that seemed different into the same category. I would treat their beliefs the same as others by pretending they were the same. 

I have grown a lot as a person the summer before college and my freshman year of college. I developed an understanding about the importance of understanding people that are not the same as me. I really did not consider that there is no person on earth the same as some other person until reading the chapter in the book. The book also states that a person does not have to completely understand different beliefs, one just has to respect and acknowledge the beliefs of another individual without grouping them with other different groups or ignoring their beliefs.

I am very guilty of believing stereotypes. I know need to work on this but it is something that will take time. After coming to college, I have gotten rid of some of the stereotypes I use to believe but after the in class activity, I recognize that I have stereotypes that I did not consciously know I had before.

I am really excited to hear what is important to the students I will be helping next year, if they want to share. I know what I need to work on to be more understanding of different cultures and beliefs. I like the diversity Iowa State has because if everyone was similar campus would be very boring!       

MBTI Part II

Wow! We were given a lot of information this time around! I was a skeptic the first time I took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test because I did not think that my personality could be just simply placed into sections. After getting my results from part 1, I realized that it was definitely true and pretty accurate especially when I added the part 2 information. My letters were ISFP the last time and changed to INFP this time around.

I'm a little surprised by my results because the strongest preference I have is in the moderate category so I am pretty much straight down the middle with all of my preferences. I feel that I fall under the mid-zone because I adjust how I act by how well I known the people I'm around and the situation I am in. INFPs tend to care deeply about people and causes that are close to them. They are tolerant and adapt to things as they happen but they strongly defend what is important to them. They like to work independently and pay attention to things that others around them care about. I feel like these characteristics of INFPs accurately explain my personality.

The different facets in the report are just crazy! I cannot believe by picking out words on a test I can get so much information about my personality back. I had four out of preference facets; gregarious, enthusiastic, practical, and experimental. The only one out of preference facet I'm not too sure about would be enthusiastic because the report states that I like the spotlight but in actuality I rather not be in it.

I really like to keep a lot of information to myself until I get to know people and I tend to keep emotions like anger to myself which leads to me being an introvert and I definitely would fall under the contained facet. I switched to intuition from sensing and I believe it is a better fit because I tend to have imaginative and abstract ways of thinking when working on problems.   

I like the tips in the report on using the facets to enhance communication, change management, and conflict management. The report is very useful to me because I can use the information to understand my personality and to better myself by working on the tips given to me in the report.            

ISLE & the Learning Community Mid-Year Institute

My weekend was filled with learning about becoming a great leader. The Learning Community Mid-Year Institute and ISLE presented information about leadership that I found to be interesting.  Various speakers defined leadership differently, although they were all similar, and gave characteristics of good leaders.

While at the Learning Community Mid-Year Institute, I attended a session on stress and how to relax and the other session I attended was on using social media to connect with the mentees. The stress session identified common characteristics of stress and gave different methods to help relieve the stress. I believe that being able to detect stress in a person would be great information for a peer mentor to have because there are many stresses as an incoming freshman and some people who may need help may not admit it.

The social media session was not as interesting because I knew most of the information already. WISE presented information on how they use Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook to connect with members. I think using social media is a great way to connect with college students because most of use check social media sites a lot more often than our emails.

The opening speaker at ISLE was great! The keynote speaker, Delatorro McNeal, was very entertaining. McNeal explained the importance of peer leaders and mentors and gave inspiring clips from movies during his presentation. The session I attend was not as interesting. The coordinator of the ROTC program gave a presentation of leadership and the characteristics of a leader. The speaker asked a lot of questions and called on people in the small audience. At the end of the presentation, He explained the reason why he choose to present that way. He presented in that manner because people tend to learn the best when they are involved in their learning. I loved the idea but not while I was being called on. I would like to use a type of interactive learning in the future with the mentees.    

Overall, I felt both conferences were helpful to me developing my leadership skills. I also enjoyed meeting mentors and leaders from different organizations around campus. A quote to some up what I learned by John Quincy Adams would be "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, and become more, you are a leader."

Undersatnding the Role of a Peer Mentor

Peer Educators are a valuable resource for Iowa State University. When I think back over the last year and I half, I cannot even count how many times a peer educator has helped me. Before we even accepted ISU, we met with cyclone aids who gave us the grand tour of the beautiful campus where we all decided to come for higher education.

In class, we discussed concerns the incoming freshmen may have, many that were on the board were questions I had when I came to college. I feel that through this activity and the activity of acting as a peer mentor/student to answer questions we may be asked by the incoming students helped me remember what it was like to be an incoming student. The mentor/student activity also got me thinking about how to answer the questions the students will be asking next fall. Experience is great knowledge that can be utilized to help new students and to help ourselves. I also love that we, the current peer mentors, have such a diverse mix of majors. I believe that we can give better insight to students going into similar majors because we know our own course requirements for our majors and colleges. 

The first couple chapters in the book laid out the importance of peer educators. The first chapter explained that peer mentors are role models and the author gave tips on how to better yourself and tips for being a peer mentor. The second chapter hit on the topics of maturation and changes in personal development. From personal experience, I feel like a completely different person than what I was as a senior in high school, I even feel like a different person from last year. I think that college makes you grow as a person, whether good or bad and as a peer mentor, I am there to positively impact others' lives.

It was easy for me to forget all of the questions and experiences I had my first year of college because I no longer worry about the things I did coming in freshman year but the class activities and the readings helped me remember how I felt. Information and experiences are powerful and if they are used right, one can make a huge difference in others' lives and that is what I plan to do as a peer mentor.           

A Little About Me

I am from Earling, which is a small town located in the southwest region of Iowa. I went to a small parochial school from preschool until eighth grade and then I went to Harlan High School. I have always loved my science classes and I am currently majoring in biology. I am also interested in history. What I enjoy doing the most is being outdoors and working on projects like building book cases. My favorite hobby would be camping.

I felt that I was at my best when I was working at a nursing home as a certified nurses' assistant. I love to help others and at my job I always felt that I was helping my residents feel comfortable and happy. I made a difference in their lives and they defiantly impacted mine.

As a peer mentor, I would like to help the incoming Hixson Scholars adjust to college life and I want them to feel welcome to Iowa State. I also have a goal to become more comfortable talking in front of groups. My role as a peer mentor is to be a liaison between the Hixson program and Iowa State University. I would like the freshmen to feel that they can ask me anything and I will be there to help them. We have already been through the emotions and situations the incoming freshmen will be experiencing therefore, I feel that peer mentors have the insight to help the freshmen get through their first semester.