24-July-2019
Peer Mentoring
Weekly Newsletter
What is Peer Mentoring?
Peer mentoring is a great way to provide
guidance in both a personal and professional
level for any individual in need of direction.
Specifically, for new onboarding college
students who do not know where to go. At
Indian River State College, we, the Peer
Mentors, contact new onboarding students and
set up meetings to discuss anything from classes,
career goals, personal life, etc. We are the
“middleman” to the free resources available here
at the college.
The resources available at the college
are a free tutoring lab, Health and Wellness, a
gym, etc. Currently active students have access
to a tutoring lab that can help students with a
variety of subjects such as economics, writing,
algebra, etc. Most students are unaware of these
resources because of the lack of involvement.
The Peer Mentor would then let them know
about the resources and how to obtain more
information about them.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under
CC BY-NC-ND
What are some tips for new Peer Mentors?
Peer Mentoring requires a certain level
of leadership and initiative. Do not be afraid to
take initiative and schedule meeting with a
student. These meetings can help keep the
students organized and focused on their goals.
As the leader, you must lead by example
because you never know when someone is
watching.
Another way to learn these techniques is
to shadow someone who you believe
exemplifies strong leadership skills and leads by
example. Although several individuals are
uncomfortable with openly meeting and talking
to people, they must learn from their own
members to overcome that and then they will be
able to help others.
What is leadership?
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC
BY-SA
Leadership Defined
Leadership does not have to be defined
to a specific “executive” position. Leadership is
taking action in guiding others towards a
successful path. It also is not dependent on a
certain personality characteristic, but rather
being there for someone in need of guidance.
The TEDX talk in the hyperlink gives a great
explanation on the concept of leadership. Drew
Dudley, TEDX speaker, goes over how most
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 24-July-2019

Peer Mentoring
individuals never know that they are leaders
because they were never told. But he informs us
that one needs to not attribute leadership with
public praise because it does not play a very
significant role.

Connecting Peer Mentoring to Leadership

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC
BY-SA-NC
Bridging the gap between Peer
Mentoring and leadership begins with
confidence in oneself. As previously stated,
there is not a particular set of characteristics that
a leader must have. Although, confidence can
help the leader go a long way because they need
to obtain the trust in their mentees, the mentees
must know that they are in good hands and can
get the task done. That all begins with “you”
because as the saying goes, “you can’t help
anyone else if you can’t help yourself.”
References
Indian River State College. (n.d.). Indian River
State College. Retrieved from
https://www.irsc.edu/student-
resources/mentoring.html
Kruse, K. (2015, September 2). What Is
Leadership? Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkrus
e/2013/04/09/what-is-
leadership/#7b048ab75b90
National Mentoring Resource Center. (n.d.).
Peer Mentoring. Retrieved from
https://nationalmentoringresourcecenter
.org/index.php/what-works-in-
mentoring/key-
topics.html?layout=edit&id=152

IRSC Mentoring

In the QR Code in the next column, it

directs you to the IRSC mentoring page where
prospective mentors can find more information
on mentoring at IRSC.

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