Peer Mentors Help New Students Adjust to College Life

Video by UK Public Relations and Marketing

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 11, 2015) — University of Kentucky Living Learning Programs (LLPs) offer dynamic residential experiences to students on campus, all geared toward enhancing student success. At the heart of these communities are peer mentors, who help first-year students adjust to college life.

In the UK Honors Program, peer mentors are considered the lifeblood of their LLP. With 440 students living in the residence hall complex, which comprises Johnson and Central Halls, developing a sense of community may be difficult for new students. That’s where the peer mentors come in.

“We make programs that we think the Honors students will enjoy, and we are just really friendly faces in the hall to make sure that people get acclimated very quickly to life in large residence halls and on UK’s campus,” said Anita Shanker, a senior peer mentor.

These 26 peer mentors, representing all majors, disciplines and colleges at UK, work with the first-year students to give them that sense of community and friendship. They have seen tremendous success with their programming, both academic and social.  Their most popular program, Harry Potter Month in October, brings together more than 40 different events — all themed around the popular book and movie series. Events include a trip to Hogsmeade (the farmer's market), a workshop in "potions" (a study session for Chemistry 105 and 107) and social events like a house-sorting ceremony. The month culminates in a Yule Ball at the residence hall complex, where students dress up in costumes. Over 90 percent of the students participate every year.

While the students are undoubtedly crazy for "Harry Potter," it's not the only month of activities the peer mentors organize.  Every month centers on a timely theme. For example, November and December offer opportunities for the students to learn about community service.

Heather Carpenter, advisor and co-curricular programmer in Honors, said these themed activities get students excited and make them feel more at home within the residence hall.

"I think if you provide them with programming that is both interesting and fun — and also ties to their academics — then you can increase retention," Carpenter said.

As part of its Strategic Plan, UK aims to ensure timely degree completion through high-impact, student-centered support systems. One way to achieve this goal is by implementing comprehensive first and second-year experience programs like the LLPs and peer mentor programs. This kind of programming has shown to be effective because peers help students navigate the often complex systems of college. Helping students find opportunities for involvement and social networking can be key to empowering their success on campus.

“We live with them, we live next to them, we live around them — they can’t really avoid us,” Shanker laughs. “So we can keep a pretty good check of what’s going on. We can text them and say ‘hey let’s go out for coffee’ or ‘there’s a pretty cool event that I thought you would like’ and that’s a good way to get them knowing that there’s somebody whose got their back no matter what.  And in a more casual, friendly way too. It’s not as intimidating, I feel.”

“Faculty and advisors serve a really good function, but often times can’t be there at 3 in the morning,” said Evelyn Hudson, a sophomore peer mentor. “I think that I can function in a much more personal way and therefore impact people for the main reason that people are retained or drop out of college, which isn’t for academics, it’s almost always socially, almost always emotional.”

Joel Parker, a junior peer mentor, says he was positively impacted by his peer mentors as a freshman and now enjoys being able to do the same for others.

“It’s just a big community within Honors,” said Parker. “And with the Peer Mentor Program we’re able to arrange people and get programs going that help the dorm feel more like a community instead of just a bunch of people living together.  We’re all in the Honors program, we’ve all gone through that, we have similar interests, so you can really quickly connect with them and just talk about what you’re interested in. You know that they’re going through similar things.”

At the end of the day, the mentors are just doing what they love.

“It was like someone took all of my favorite aspects: interacting with people, trying to develop community, trying to encourage inclusivity, and encourage a greater challenge to people’s intellect to spur curiosity,” said Hudson.  “It’s a really good community for development, but also for friendship. Although we study a lot of different things, we’re always challenging each other, having really good discussions and really taking academics to another level.”

The Honors Program is part of the Academy of Undergraduate Excellence within the Division of Undergraduate Education at UK.

MEDIA CONTACT:  Jenny Wells, 859-257-5343