Freshman naivety often leads to reflection as an upperclassman. This was a word of advice that I was offered as an incoming freshman from a cousin of mine who was fresh off of his undergraduate graduation. At the time I didn’t think that this would pertain to me as I didn’t consider myself a naïve person, I instead liked to think of myself as rather grateful and introspective. However, as I got older and became more mature, I came to understand that this line of thought itself only added to my naivety all together.

       

My first experience with University 101 at the University of South Carolina was at freshman orientation in June of 2016. I sat in an auditorium of thousands of future Capstone Scholars and was told that I would be required to take a freshman seminar class that was supposed to “orient me to the university.” Immediately I could picture the elementary activities I would be required to participate in and the seemingly pointless busy work I would have to complete. This mindset carried me right into my first day of class in U101 and I was fully prepared to be met with busy work and silly class activities. I wasn’t completely off base in thinking this, and as class set on there were a few activities that I could not see the benefit in. I through many of the activities in an attempt to be cordial and respectful to my professor. However, as time went on and the semester progressed, I found myself enjoying the class and seeing real benefit from it. I made some of my greatest friends in U101 and I really gained a new perspective of myself that I don’t believe I would have achieved elsewhere in college. I left U101 with a new respect for it, and a feeling of gratitude towards the university for mandating that I take the class.

        

This feeling of gratitude remained with me through my sophomore year, and one day I received an email stating that I had been nominated to apply to become a U101 peer leader. I had never considered this a possibility, but after some thought I applied, interviewed and was awarded a position as a U101 Peer Leader. In this role I was asked to act as a role model of sorts for the students whom I would be teaching. Writing lesson plans, frequently meeting with my co-instructor and providing context on my experiences in the University. This experience as an instructor for U101 was incredible. I am someone who learns best by teaching others and in helping others to understand information that I grasp well, I am able to better understand it myself. This was reaffirmed in U101. I gained a new and improved understanding of my learning styles, my teaching styles, my presentation and public speaking skills and even a new outlook on my character. Part of the job as a U101 Peer Leader is co-creating the lesson and syllabus for the course. In artifact #1 there is an example of one of the lesson plans that I had created for a day in class. Seeing this side of teaching and understanding the effort that goes into it gave me a new appreciation for professors and for the learning process. My take aways from this U101 experience were an improved ability to convey information effectively, a better understanding of myself as a teacher and a feeling of accomplishment as I had made a positive impact on a group of freshmen students. 

        

A mandate for first year peer leaders is that they enroll in EDLP 520, a course designed to help first year peer leaders be more successful. My class was incredible. My professor, Mike Dial, was the director of peer leaders at the time and he ran our class as more of a focus group, based on discussion and reflection. This atmosphere created a feeling of comfort and I do not know if I would have and the same experience without it. In EDLP I was able to take some of the ideas and activities that we discussed and shared by my peers, and apply them to my class. This class set up gave me the confidence to teach my class with authority and knowledge. The most impactful was perhaps the 30 values activity. This is an activity that I had remembered from my freshman year U101 class and I was excited to learn how it was facilitated on the instructor side of things. My EDLP 520 class and I spent an afternoon brainstorming different ways to approach the activity and how to use our own individual character strengths to make the greatest impact in our classes. I understood, due to other character assessment activities we had done in class, that I had the ability to lead this activity in a very serious and introspective manor. I asked my co-instructor if she was comfortable with me leading the class that day on my own and she obliged. The facilitation of the 30 values activity that day was one of the most impactful things I believe that I accomplished as a peer leader. The room was silent, the class was engaged and everyone walked away with a new understanding of themselves and the values they held most dear.