The time of year to become a peer mentor has come around, here is how to apply.
Peer mentors are an integral part of The University of Tulsa experience, connecting students together and making lifelong friends, as mentors and with incoming students. The University of Tulsa explains how peer mentors are carefully selected to be “at the heart of what we do.” The student leaders are selected due to their deep commitment to helping other students succeed, The University of Tulsa website continues. The peer mentors chosen can bring a wide range of experiences in campus organizations, experiences, events, cultural encounters and academic excellence. Peer mentors are also a crucial part of first-year students’ FYE1001 course, one hour a week. FYE1001 details how to adjust to campus life, how to use the library and how to email professors professionally to name a few examples. The peer mentors model academic engagement, support instruction throughout the semester and are available to their students each week in the course. This is to help students with their first semester worries, or just in general as a friend.
Students meet with their peer mentors over the summer before the semester starts, whether this is through email, iMessage, GroupMe or Zoom. The same peer mentors that students worked with over the summer then host their orientation group among other students the week before classes begin. This same group moves to the FYE1001 class together for that semester and peer mentors will stay connected to their students throughout the year with support, help with transitioning or connect them with resources.
The University of Tulsa has a specific page dedicated to peer mentors, giving pictures and information about each peer mentor. With a total of 70 peer mentors, there are plenty of students willing to help with the college transition process. Peer mentors are assigned a group of around seven to eight students and as mentioned go through activities with their students for the first few days before the semester begins. Activities can include a tour of campus, finding students’ classrooms, finding help resources on campus, and joining with the rest of their grade to meet up with other students to complete activities and make friends, such as glowstick hunts.
Sophomore Seraina Hatt had her FYE1001 class in fall 2023. Hatt describes her peer mentor experience as “really fun.” “My peer mentor made my first semester really enjoyable. I loved going to my FYE classes each week because we regularly got pizza and class was even held outside a couple of times when the weather permitted. Overall, I would encourage future students to feel at ease under the care of the peer mentors here at TU because they’re great!”
Junior Tammi Morellano has been a peer mentor since the beginning of the semester. Morellano describes her experiences as being a peer mentor: “The entire process took a lot of energy and focus, but it was so much fun because my fellow peer mentors were always so supportive and kind. Then, when it came to meeting and being with my students throughout orientation week, it was great knowing that all those new friends were there to support me through the entire week. As for my students, I had the best group of first years. They were always present and ready to go through all the planned activities. I loved how energized they were to be on campus, and they were just so fun to be around.” Tammi also spoke about what made her want to become a peer mentor, “I come from a really far away island (Guam). When I first got to campus, I was really nervous because I’d never been to the United States before, but my peer Mentor, Kimmy Rosas-Mendoza, made me feel accepted right away, and I never felt like I couldn’t tell her if something was wrong. I wanted to be able to help people feel like that when they’re coming into something new.”
Kyle Meador emailed students on Oct. 29. concerning hiring a new peer mentor team for next year helping welcome the new students of TU. Meador details the positions available which are peer mentors, transfer peer mentors, I-Success mentors working with international students and HOSTs working specifically with new student orientation. The responsibilities for being peer mentors as Meador describes include reaching out to students over the summer and answering any questions they may have and leading students through their Orientation experience, alongside attending the freshman FYE course.
Students interested in becoming peer mentors can apply through the Peer Mentor Application online. Meador explains how the application includes information required about yourself and campus such as hometown and GPA. Furthermore three professional references are required with at least one of these from the TU community, some short reflection questions and your current resume. Finally, an optional picture can be sent. Meador gives further information on a PDF created to help students with this application and with some hints. Meador gives a list of commitments required for the 2025-2026 peer mentors, for example prospective peer mentors need to be available throughout the whole of the student orientation process from Sunday, Aug. 17 to Thursday, Aug. 22 as well as be able to attend the FYE 1001/3001 course.
