Transitioning
from high school to college can be stressful, said University of
Delaware biology major Simran Kaur, looking back at her experience as a
first-year student.
“You have to learn how to study for college in a different way than
you might have studied in high school, and there’s a lot of new things
to navigate,” she said. Kaur made it through her first year successfully
and now, as a sophomore, is doing well academically and is active in a
national honor fraternity and other campus activities. She hopes to
pursue a career in medicine and studies six days a week.
But, as busy as she is, Kaur didn’t hesitate to volunteer for the
new, peer-based Mentor Collective program housed in the College of Arts
and Sciences.
“I don’t want people to feel like something is wrong with them if
they are feeling stressed about school,” she said. “Hopefully, I can
give them the resources and information they need to calm their nerves.”
Kaur mentors two first-year students, including one, Sy'Rai Jacobs, who also is majoring in biology.
“Simran has been great,” said Jacobs. “She said to me, ‘My job is to
make sure your experience is going as well as possible.’”
Kaur and Jacobs didn’t meet in-person until a Mentor Collective
launch event in mid-September, but they had been paired in mid-summer
and regularly connected via text and Zoom during August. When the
semester started, the texting increased.
“Some things I couldn’t answer; for example, Sy'Rai had questions
about her residence hall and I’m a commuter,” Kaur said. “But I would
find the resources she needed, whether that was Residence Life,
scholarship info or financial aid.”
As of late October, the Mentor Collective had 761 mentees and 288
mentors. (Some energetic mentors like Kaur are working with more than
one student.) The Mentor Collective framework is based on research that
shows that college students highly value peer-to-peer advice.
Kaur turns to Mentor Collective staffers when she needs help, using a
text-based messaging system that flags items of high importance. Mentor
Collective staffers then work in partnership with CAS leadership to
connect students with the appropriate resources on campus. “I like that
the Mentor Collective reaches out based on the feedback I give them on
how my mentees are doing,” said Kaur. “It has helped both me and my
mentees.”