All Hands on Deck Mentorship Program

Abstract

At the beginning of our freshman year, we were assigned the project of addressing a “wicked” problem, or a problem that is unsolvable. Being tasked with this, we decided to address an issue that directly affected us, and thousands of others: stress on college campuses. With this in mind, we set out to cure the stress of an everyday college student. From here, we decided to host events that would be helpful for students in stress relief. Our idea was to hold events to help reduce stress. After conducting more than 100 interviews, we learned that students felt that these events would be more of a distraction from their stress, than a solution. We then decided that we should produce a more permanent solution to stress through mentorship. We decided to create a program in which incoming freshmen could participate to help relieve the stress of the transition. The program would be optional, yet highly encouraged. For the program, an upperclassman would be paired with freshmen based on their major. We planned to work with an Honors 2000 group, who would be our control group, and unfortunately we had very few responses. Left with no participants and what seemed to be a lack of interest, our group decided to pivot once again. We decided to create a Facebook page for Honors students, similar to “Rate my Professor”. Several people joined the Facebook page, however, no one besides our group posted. We were at another dead end, and we had no more ideas to turn to. With no idea how to proceed, we met with Dr. Majewski and learned about her interest in our mentorship idea. The program would be implemented inside of gateway residence hall. All incoming Honors freshmen, and all returning upperclassmen, would be required to participate. Freshmen would be paired with upperclassmen and they would be required to meet a couple times a semester. This program would serve to help freshmen with their stress by providing them with a mentor that can answer any question they may have. This program has been implemented in the Fall of 2019, and will continue to be implemented for other years. Our ultimate goal of “All Hands on Deck” is to provide freshmen with a less stressful first semester, and also provide an opportunity to develop lasting friendships within the Honors College.