Helping with the Transistion-Week 2

This week was one of the hard questions. In class we did a lot of good discussion on the questions that were brought up in the book. I thought that the way that Josh and Greg introduced the discussion was one that would be very good to use in the recitation in the fall. It was a good idea to use Skittles to start discussions on the questions. I have seen this before with different candies to get to know each other, but I have never seen it as a way to start a discussion. It was really nice to hear what other people had to say about the sections in the chapter.

The hardest student comment that I remember reading was “I didn’t want to come to college. My parents made me come.” And of course, that was the first thing I was asked in class. Not that that is a bad thing. It was nice to actually come up with an answer and hear how other mentors would answer it. I guess you need bring in how important college is to the rest of your life and how much fun it can be. It doesn’t always have to be work and class. There are so many intramurals, clubs, and other volunteer opportunities to get involved with, especially here at Iowa State. One thing that did bother me a little bit about class was when a few people were saying to say that parents are only looking out for you. I know that this is probably something good to say, but if the student feels like their parents are controlling their lives. I don’t think they want to hear that. I think that you need to talk up college, and make the student feel like they want to be here. They want to experience college life and they are the ones who are getting the benefits out of it.

I think that Chapter 2 will be a good chapter to look over again before meeting the new students. The section on how college is different from high school will help put my mind a little closer to what they are going through because it has been a while since I went though it myself.