Diversity

Last week we had an ice cream social with a speaker about diversity. I enjoyed having the change of the way things normally run. I had never heard her talk but she presented with a practiced degree of proficiency.

One thing I took out of the class was that not everyone responds to "jokes" in the same way. As, what I would describe, a normal white, middle class American from the Midwest, I figured my response of memes and jokes would be normal. I tend to let things bounce off. A joke is a joke. There has to be either a true degree of blatantly hurtful words or actions to really get a rise out of me. Only other time would be if someone close to me issues offenses that I find hurtful. Those people should know the boundaries between right and wrong and if they don't, they will hear about it. I guess it's more of a assume good will from others type of perspective.

I learned from this lecture that not everyone feels this way. One thing I was not expecting was her take on the Daily incident. I know there was something printed which was (hopefully) unintentionally offensive. What I didn't realize happened was the disregard for the victim's feelings. The Daily most definitely should have been better proofread and after the incident, published articles that helped students see the hurt it caused those ISU students.

One thing that really bothered me about this lecture was student's responses to the picture of the woman and the man. Excuse me, but I thought the extremely negative submissions were absolutely uncalled for. The question asked "How would this person describe themselves" and people were posting statements that, had the photo been of myself, I would probably have left the room crying. It was hurtful to see those things posted. It's an interesting psychological question that should be asked, what makes individuals respond in such a way?  That social experiment makes me wonder, what responses would people post of me (if no one knew me like no one knew her.)

Ethics

Last week's presentation went very well. Great job Alex and Easton! The idea of ethics is one that plays a large role in our everyday lives. Everyone has their own background, values and experiences guiding the decisions they make and the people they are. Ethics helps keep everyone's character in check by providing a universal idea of what is right and wrong in normal society.

When asked the question in class "What does ethics look like or feel like to you?" my response was that ethics is the application of integrity. Integrity to me is honesty in every aspect of life. Not taking advantage of a situation where someone else may be hurt. Making sure that other's opportunities are equal to, if not greater than, the opportunities I have. Being a sales person, I don't think ethics is applied enough. I do my best to make sure to never lie to get a larger sale or take advantage of a customer for my own gain. I make sure that I treat every customer how I would want another sales person to treat my mother or sister. Hopefully that sales strategy (although it has been known to lose me sales and commission) will pay off in the future.

DST workday

This last week we spent most of the time discussing what was done and what still needed to be done for this Digital Story telling project. Sebastian tried to get me to do a cameo type thing where I just talk into the camera... I really really didn't want to do it. Me, on film... scary. So he took someone else. Sorry Lauren :)

Anyway it looks like we have a lot, if not all of the filming done and just need to work on editing and music. I feel my greatest contribution so far was the climbing of a tree, and screaming no in the middle of Central campus 3-4 times. :) We also found some great music to add to the background. This DST is going to be awesome! :D

Filming

Filming this last Sunday for the Digital Story telling project was a lot of fun. I was able to dress up and let the creative juices flow as the evil professor someone? (I can't remember what the script called my character but I know I was evil.) I got to climb a tree in Lago courtyard, something that was definitely the highlight of the day :) It was really great to have most of the peer mentors together being creative and having fun. After filming for a few hours we met up back at hixson for Hunger games, snacks and working on our lesson plans. Working on those lesson plans was very helpful in getting a better idea of what each should include. I feel I have a very strong handle of how to set up all 5 of my lesson plans for the portfolio.

Now just very excited to get to talk more about the coming retreat and the semester to come!

This Week Recap

Dane and I gave our Hixson presentation this week. I'm very glad that we made it through it and I feel like it went well. The hardest part for Dane and I was finding time to meet up to work on the project. Between my class and work schedule and Dane's class, new job and class trip it was difficult. I think we got a lot of good ideas presented and led a very active informative class. More than that we had fun doing it! (if you couldn't tell by our laughing toward the end! :) )

My favorite part of the presentation was the end when we received feedback. The most common response was that we rushed through, needed to practice a little more to appear more confident and to give more feedback after groups responses. Now that I have one presentation under my belt, I feel a lot more confident in how next semester might work and how I can improve my skills as a peer mentor. Thank you for all of your responses!

Tonight's dinner was not only delicious but very beneficial! Many of the things we talked about were things I had heard before but it's always good to have a refresher. The presenter was funny but still frightening. I caught myself realizing I had done something "unladylike" and got shifty eyes to make sure she didn't see!!! We all know what good etiquette is, but having to display it every once in a while makes us more comfortable when the situation truly counts. I'd much rather look silly/unladylike and ask questions in an environment that may giggle at me, but would support and encourage as well. Not quite the feedback I'd get from an interviewer.

Teamwork, Trust, Communication

Teamwork, trust and communication were three key elements that were necessary for success in last week's class. Starting with the blindfolded team member we had to navigate through an obstacle course. This was a great way to demonstrate how important it was to have another person there to help. It was critical to trust your partner. I was blindfolded first and had no idea what kind of obstacles we would have to get through. I had no choice but to literally blindly trust Carly to keep me safe. We were able to establish a very clear way to communicate back and forth (one step forward, turn ninety degrees to your left etc.) Overall the task went very well and when incorporating all three elements, we were able to complete the course without any problems!

In application with being a peer mentor next year, we will always have the support of every peer mentor for guidance and suggestion when we hit an obstacle, but the best resource for help, support, and question answering will be our partner. Being able to trust and rely on the other peer mentor will be very important. A point that was mentioned during the lesson was that together there are two heads and two people able to complete the work. Life becomes much harder when you aren't able to rely on all the resources that surround. Communication will become the center of all peer mentor relationships. Being in touch with the other person to ensure all parts of the lesson are covered and for those times when class load gets tougher for one, communicating the stresses to the other will diminish everyone's frustrations so that the class goes as successfully as possible.

Collaboration

Collaboration. This is a really good description of how last Wednesday's class went. Starting with the teamwork activity, Christina and I had the good luck to be able to play Nintendo for our activity! This was a version of Nintendo that neither of us had ever played before and it was definitely a different experience from the video games we were used to. In addition, playing one part of the game while relying on the other to play their part was difficult. It was very important to be able to work together and communicate so that each other knew exactly what the other was going to do. We were most successful when we knew when to jump, when to go, when to stay, and of course, which buttons to push to get Mario onto Yoshi! This was a great activity not only because it was fun but it forced cooperation and collaboration to complete a task and I think Christina and I did very well! :)

During the lesson we were able to take a survey about what type of problem solving we favored. As mentioned in my title, I ended up in the collaboration group. This was a good fit for myself because I feel I am able to lead when it's time to make a decision, but I'm not the type of person who will step on anyone else's opinion or views in the process of completion. Being a collaborator, I like to take a lot of other people's feelings into account and find the best solution for the whole group, even if it's not the 100% use of my idea or 100% benefit for myself. I'm very team oriented and think this group was a reflection on that fact. Team first, self second.

Problem Solving

First thing I'd like to say is way to go Dylan and Lauren for an incredible presentation. You two seemed very confident and prepared for the class, were able to engage us as a class very well and I believe we were all able to come out of it with a greater knowledge and understanding on how to better help our coming students with their problems with either advice or interpersonal communication. I only hope that my presentation in about two weeks can be as successful as yours!

In chapter 5, I feel the four steps for interviewing will be the most applicable feature from this chapter that we will be able to apply to our students problems. 

The four steps include:

1. Asking open ended questions- leads to a greater depth of the problem and situation as a whole. Many times people will answer "yes" or "no" if ever given the chance. Any time you can get a few extra sentences allow the chance for better understanding.

2. Ask for clarification or expansion of specific points- not only do you need to ask open ended questions, but through listening, you need to come up with questions that will allow further insight. This not only gives you more information to help solve the problem, it also might help the student in self enlightenment by seeing the problem in a way they may not have seen it before. Plus, asking these questions also shows the student that you are listening, that you care, and that you truly want to help them find a solution. 

3. Using Paraphrasing and Summarizing-This forces you as the listener to listen even more intently, pick out the main pieces and relay them back to the student to ensure you understand the point correctly. Within this step anything that wasn't clear can become clear and anything that you understood incorrectly can be corrected and further remembered. 

4. Make a hypothesis about the problem- This allows the culmination of all facts of the problem so that the best possible solution, or next step, can be successfully assessed and sought. 

I think this needs to be the backbone of any interaction with our students in hopes of better identifying their needs, problems and goals so that we can guide them towards the most effective solution. 

Cultural Diversity

Cultural diversity is all around us. That is one of the great benefits of going to a public high school in a large town and coming to a public university. There are people from all walks of life who have encountered many different life experiences. Even more, this coming class of freshman that we will be interacting with will most likely come from lots of different places, we as peer mentors have to be ready for what ever comes our way.

From our class discussion, the thing I need to work on most would be being more aware of where others come from and understanding and being open to their perspective. Just like no one truly knows me or my life, I can't expect to know theirs.

Things I might need to overcome is the mindset of the "one" right way to live. I feel I've very open to new things, opinions, ideas, situations etc. But many times, being a traditional personality type, I like the tried and true method. If I've found something that works, a successful path, than it's hard to deviate from that path, even if the person I'm working with feels that path is the right one for them. It's knowing when to provide assistance and suggestion vs when to allow them to make their own decisions for their life.

Results of MBTI and ISLE conference

I must start this week's entry by saying I was very shocked and somewhat impressed by the results of the MBTI report. Last week I wrote about the many places that I saw flaws in the study. I was hesitant (to say the least) about whether or not the test could actually gauge who I was within a 144 question survey. How can the essence of me be summed up so simply? (make sure to read in a very dramatic tone of voice :) ) While I still think there may be flaws in the survey, I was exceedingly shocked to find that my results from last year matched this year. I am a ISFJ. Introverted, Sensing, Feeling and Judging. Those who know me best could probably throw in a few more adjectives (stubborn, aggressive, dramatic etc.) but we won't mention those.

Too stubborn to admit that I can be summed up so simply, I try to reflect on who I was when I took this last year and who I am now. How did I answer the questions last year as opposed to this year? Did I have the same mindset? I see such drastic differences in the girl I was when I walked into college and the woman I feel I am now. So how could the results be the same? I feel that in some of my responses as a freshman, I answered in a way that reflected who I wanted to be. I've grown and changed in the past year and a half, and maybe I've gotten closer to that person. Also, in all honesty, the survey pretty well sums me up. After talking to a few people closet to me, I found that the "Rachel" MBTI describes is pretty much the real Rachel others see. Who knows. Maybe I take it again in the future, I'll get a report that describes, even more precisely, the Rachel I'm supposed to be.

Switching gears to the conference, I truly enjoyed the key note speaker. As a fan of the movie clips shown through the speech, it was easy to understand the concepts of leadership he was explaining. In everything we do, we have to lead ourselves and allow ourselves to be changed before we can help change the lives of others. I feel like it's easy to live under the belief that we have it all figured out. Our comfort zone allows us to exist without being influenced, touched, or changed. Once we step out of that area we feel the safest and walk into the darkness of questions and doubt, we will be able to forge a new path of discovery. And, in the end, our discoveries can lend light along the paths of other's journey.  Hopefully, as I discover who I am and allow myself to be changed for the better by those around me, I will be able to be a positive influence in the lives of those incoming freshman who need a helping hand to start their journey.

Reflections of MBTI survey and ways to improve its results

This week, the main assignment for us to complete was the MBTI survey. MBTI stands for the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. The goal of this survey is to asses what traits of a person, while they may seem random, remain consistent and stable in the individual's life. By knowing these traits, it becomes easier to assess how that person will react to certain situations and behave when interacting with others. There are basically four areas this survey attempts to pinpoint personality into. They are; Extroversion vs. Introversion, Sensing vs. Intuition, Thinking vs. Feeling, Judging vs. Perceiving. 


While the survey's end goals are good, last year as a freshman and even this year as a sophomore I don't feel I can put much stock into this type of survey. Some areas of the evaluation may be spot on in determining who I am, what type of situation I feel most comfortable in or even how I will respond to certain situations. However, I feel that without taking this test more than once, and without being able to apply the questions to specific scenarios, it is just too great of a generalization. If the survey was set up to have multiple (let's say 3-5) different questionnaires presenting different scenarios to gauge the same type of responses, and if it were to be taken at different times, it would be a much better evaluation of personality. There are many factors that can go into how a person responds to the questionnaire. The person's mood (whether they had a good day vs. a bad day), their state of mind (busy, stressed, angry, sad, hyper, creative, adventurous, etc) and other variables that can affect the possible different responses. Having more than one survey to be taken at different times would help eliminate the mood driven responses to yield a better evaluation of personality. 


Additionally, in reference to the "pick a word" section. I struggled to find the term that could best encompass me. I found that responding as spontaneously as possible generated the answer associated with the exceptional behavior I may exhibit. This is because exceptions are what generally stand out in memory, as opposed to the everyday actions that might better classify my situation in life. If was also difficult to determine between concepts such as "just vs. mercy." This presents a problem that only context can resolve. An animal bites me making me bleed. Technically, for justice sake, the animal should be put down. But say that animal is not one that would intentionally cause harm. In that case a person might evoke mercy to make an exception. This may be an extreme or even random example but it demonstrates that context plays a large role in determining what word would describe day to day actions. In this way, I feel the MBTI survey would be much more applicable if we were able to receive a contextual reference.


While how the test is set up is important, perspective is everything. The way I perceive myself may be polar opposite from the way others see me. It's difficult to determine if I truly am introverted or if I simply see myself that way while others perceive me as an extrovert. (I see myself as a very strong introvert, enjoying time by myself, having only a few close friends, and not  feeling very comfortable in large groups of people, while after asking my mom and a few friends, they see me as an extrovert due to my love of sales and customer service, enjoying sports and enjoying being a leader during activities.) A different perspective can give incredible insight into who a person is. 


Finally, while most of the ideas I have presented so far reflect ideas within psychological theory of personality and a scientific approach, another idea that I think of when taking the test is that it is very possible to manipulate the results to reflect whoever I want to be. It's easy to pick out which questions are geared toward introversion vs. extroversion, sensing vs. intuition, etc. If I wanted to appear to be an extrovert, I would be able to mark the responses that most reflect extroversion. While, hopefully none of us want to manipulate the results in a certain way, many times it becomes difficult to gauge whether a response is due to how we see ourselves, how others see us or how we want to be seen. All these factors can play into the simple responses we give in the 144 item survey. 


I've kind of torn apart the survey but hope that it doesn't seem like pure criticism. I feel that the idea behind the survey is good and it can be very effective in gathering lots of data of many individuals quickly, easily, cost effectively, and in a way that the person responding knows exactly how they behave 100% of the time. In those regards the survey does it's job, however, implementing of the few ideas mentioned in this blog would increase the validity and reliability of the survey results. 

Peer Educators on the College Campus

Quotes:

"Peer educators are students who have been selected, trained, and designated by a campus authority to offer educational services to their peers" (page 6)

"Peer educator is slightly ahead in experience and awareness of what a student seeking help may be going through but not so removed as to seem unable to identify and understand his or her situation" (Page 8) "understands and won't judge me for needing input on what may seem unimportant." (Page 8)

Tips for Being a Successful Peer Educator

1. Genuine interest in positively impacting other people's lives, listen and help them through touch decisions, be invested for a long enough time to make a difference.

2. Respect individuals and their abilities, opinions, and point of view. Sense of equal dignity in the relationship to win other's trust.

3. Listen, suspend judgment, ask thoughtful (not leading) questions to help the other individual explore their own thoughts with minimal interference.

4. Empathy without pity.

5. Find realistic solutions with optimism. Look for solutions, opportunities and barriers.

6. Recognize that it takes time to build a trusting, open relationship.

Reflection:

The biggest reason I wanted to be a peer mentor for Hixson is to give back to the scholarship. I have had many opportunities opened up to me because of this scholarship and have met a lot of people I am very happy to have in my life. The best part of my experience as an incoming freshman in the Hixson program was the family unit that developed in my recitation group. This is an experience I want to have my students look back on and say “that was a great time, I learned a lot.”  I hope to be a dependable source for these upcoming freshmen to rely on when they have questions and feel free to come to with any concerns.

From the reading, the idea of “What,” “So What,” and “Now What?” seems like a very logical process. To be able to reflect upon what is being taught allows everyone to process their own ideas. In the “So What” step, I wonder if that would work better within a discussion setting. While the book might want us to take one thing from a lesson, after the “What” step, I feel being able to trade ideas with fellow peer mentors to find out their interpretations of the lesson, to see if any additional lessons, theories, or applications could be used in the future (third step “Now What” and in class settings.) In the final step, “Now What” I like that we are able to apply exactly what we thought/interpreted/discussed, and put it to use in either an everyday or simply classroom setting.

I liked the “Tips for Being a Successful Peer Educator” because it is something I will be able to look back on and apply to my own relationships with the other peer mentors along with the incoming freshman Hixson scholars. Through this reading I’m hoping to find more tips or ideas to better prepare for the upcoming semester. No interaction with students will be the same, and some might not even be easy, but by the end of the semester, a higher level of confidence on how to address such situations will make everything much more manageable.