Life as a Peer Mentor

I gained interest in becoming peer mentor because I thoroughly enjoy providing meaningful experiences with fellow students. I believe one of my life purposes is to help people. I have received feedback from my mentees which serves as confirmation that I am fulfilling one of my life purposes. Throughout the twenty-one years of my human experience, I have gained valuable knowledge, wisdom, and insight personally, academically, and professionally. Through this platform, I am able to share this information with students to enhance their human experience as well.

Although we are all students, I have an enhanced perception of life. This has been expressed to me through my mentee meetings. I genuinely enjoy communicating with other students. As the first recipient of the inaugural 2021-2022 Spirit of the Roadrunner award, I am able to successfully amplify wellness and the eight dimensions of wellness. This is my platform as Ms. UTSA. As a peer mentor, I am able to essentially enhance the well-being of individuals which then also enhances community well-being by developing community intelligence. By providing support, I am also able to provide a safe space for open, confidential communication. This is a beautiful experience for both parties.

Through proper training and learning on the job, this opportunity has also enhanced my communication skills and my methods of communication. As a peer mentor, I have been able to enhance my public speaking skills while being exposed to graphic design. I have learned to successfully advocate for others and myself. This opportunity has enhanced my credibility as a role model. I am able to increase brand awareness for UTSA by implementing marketing strategies into my FYE presentations for every class. This opportunity has shed light on the importance of time management. By placing myself in leadership positions, I have no other choice but to enhance my organization and time management. This has helped with my academic life as well.

By forming a schedule I am able to allocate time efficiently and effectively for other tasks. Ultimately, this is beneficial personally, academically, and professionally. Through the feedback I receive in every meeting, this opportunity has allowed me to successfully motivate, inspire, and encourage students. This opportunity has increased my willingness to serve people as a leader. I have been able to learn more about different cultures and raise awareness of the importance of wellness and well-being. This experience has increased my empathy, compassion, and vulnerability. Overall, this experience has heightened my passion for helping people and raised my awareness of my people skills. Team meetings and training opportunities have allowed me to further develop as well. I genuinely appreciate the information that is shared with peer mentors because it potentially fosters growth in others as well.

I am now a senior at UTSA. I would love to be able to connect with more people in the near future. By forming genuine connections, trust can be established and built. Considering that I have now gained more experience through this role, I will be more credible as a peer mentor simply because my mastery experience will increase. I would love to build connections for other students as well, In hopes of continuing to enhance well-being. Next semester may be different because the students I have been assigned to will have experienced more experiences. This holds true for me as well. Considering this fact, I will have more knowledge, wisdom, and insight to share. Proper training will also enhance my input as a peer mentor. Ultimately, I would love to increase awareness of individuals being the co-creator of their own life. This objective focuses on allowing others to accept and understand that they have agency over their life because this is their individual human experience.

My favorite part of being a peer mentor is learning more about other student experiences. Although we share a common ground of being UTSA students, we are all experiencing our own experiences. I thoroughly enjoy understanding why people are the way they are, why people present themselves the way they do, why people think the way they do, and why people express themselves the way they do. Being a peer mentor is a beautiful experience because it is bigger than me. It is bigger than UTSA. Impacting people can last a lifetime. You never know how much influence being a role model can actually hold.