Testimonials

I think the best part about the mentor experience is the wonderful feeling of being granted a great amount of responsibility in a setting that can be truly beneficial to a new first year student. Being that direct connection to your students and being a figure of guidance as well as a resource allows you to really make a difference in the first semesters of these students. The program is indiscriminant of major; you need not have any prior teaching experience or a desire to be a teacher to really impact the students and classroom. Each week, all of the mentors gather and are presented with new perspectives and techniques to effectively operate a class. As much as this program is about getting new students on the right track, it’s equally as much about enriching your skills and traits such as leadership, being comfortable in front of a group of people, interpersonal skills as well as many more. It’s impossible to compare this experience to anything else, but if the opportunity should arise I would strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to make an impact on both the university as well as the incoming students. Just keep in mind, “sky’s the limit.”

-Scott Bernier, FYE Mentor '10

Being a mentor for the INTD 1800(FYE) was an experience that is hard to put into words. For me, it was something that has truly changed me in the long run. I gained so much from participating in this course. Being a mentor for twenty first year students can seem to be overwhelming. Not knowing how to get somewhere around campus, picking a major, roommate issues, and overall the transition process from high school to college were some of the problems I helped to facilitate throughout the semester. The EPSY instructors, teaching assistants, and my FYE Instructor all helped me to excel in being the best FYE mentor that I could be. It is an amazing feeling to know that by affecting the students in my FYE class, my ideas and thoughts will be carried out through UConn forever. I was chosen to make a difference and "mentor" twenty freshman students during their first semester here at UConn, but in reality, it was much more than that.

-Jamie Rauch, FYE Mentor '10

"I loved mentoring!  I felt like I was able to give back to the UConn community, and I learned so much about myself through the EPSY class. For example, I learned that the fact that I'm quiet and I like to sit and think before I talk isn't a bad thing; It's part of my personality and shown by my Myers-Briggs test.  There aren't many UConn courses that let you learn about you. I strongly recommend the experience for everyone!"

-Becky Mears, FYE Mentor '09

"My FYE experience (and EPSY) definitely showed me a glimpse of the following mentality that I strive for: “He who puts in four hours of ‘want to’ will almost always outperform the person who puts in eight hours of ‘have to’” – Roger vonOech. With this, this most important and impactful lesson that I’ve learned from this entire experience (EPSY and FYE) is the extent to which peer education makes a beneficial, positive difference in one’s educational career. Setting this philosophy as my foundation for the Fall semester helped me most to learn about myself as a mentor—a new, and quite frankly daunting, role.From each of the main topics covered in the EPSY course and book, I have gained valuable, applicable, and relatable knowledge to better myself, those around me, and my future. The large range of impact— internally and throughout this campus—is shocking, yet inspiring, and one that I would not have predicted prior this involvement.

Furthermore, applying numbers through the self-assessment tests at the beginning and end of the semester helped me understand areas in which I grew and still need to work on. This has only inspired my passion to continue with FYE with the drive to further develop my mentor skills and maintain the continuous cycle of peer education and learning.

To truly help others, you really need to know one’s self. The process in itself is something valuable to pass on and to then relate to the next generation of Huskies."

-Yoo Mi Thompson, FYE Mentor '09