Let's Talk UNLV

Unknown Speaker 0:00
This is a k u and v studios original program. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 Jazz and more the University of Nevada Las Vegas or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Unknown Speaker 0:20
Hello again and welcome to KU in V Talk Radio 95.1. My special guest today is has been here before and I'm so happy to have her back is Dr. Lauren Gatto. Dr. Gala, could you introduce yourself? Yes,

Unknown Speaker 0:34
again, my name is Lauren Gato and I'm the Assistant Director of first year experience here at UNLV.

Unknown Speaker 0:39
Great and we have two of our mentors here. Peer mentors here also we have sky and we have Georgia so Georgia, could you introduce yourself, please? Yes,

Unknown Speaker 0:46
I'm so excited to be here. My name is Georgia Barrett and I am a junior in the business school. I'm majoring in marketing and minoring in global entrepreneurship. I am local to Las Vegas. So I went to West tech for high school and decided to continue my studying at UNLV. And yeah, I'm super excited to be here today.

Unknown Speaker 1:07
Excellent sky.

Unknown Speaker 1:08
Hi, everybody. My name is sky. I'm also local here. I'm from Coronado High School. I'm a peer mentor under the supervision of Dr. Lauren Gato. I am a student success peer mentor. I'm a junior going into my senior year this semester. I'm pre nursing, and I'm excited for my next steps ahead of me, and I'm very excited to be here today.

Unknown Speaker 1:29
Excellent. Excellent. Dr. Gallo. Could you tell us how you ended up here at UNLV? Oh,

Unknown Speaker 1:33
sure. Yeah, I actually have family here in Las Vegas. And they moved here and my brother in law's here he works at Bishop Gorman High School as a Spanish teacher. And he was expanding his family. And he, you know, I would visit Las Vegas many times. And it was always difficult for me to really see myself here. Because when you think of Vegas, you think of the strip, yes. But once I was able to see him in kind of the suburbs, and really see all of what Las Vegas has to offer. I was like, wow, I could really picture myself here. And UNLV is such a growing institution extremely diverse, very innovative. And so this is really a place that I could see myself in professionally and personally. And so that's what brought me here to UNLV. Excellent.

Unknown Speaker 2:19
I think we share the same experience. I actually, you know, well. Initially, I thought to myself, oh my goodness, Las Vegas, you know, it's a strip. That's all I could think of. But once I actually started getting out and visiting some of the subdivisions around, like, yeah, okay, I can see myself here. So. And yes, UNLV, as you said, it's an MSI minority serving institution. And it's fantastic, very diverse, very inclusive, and obsessive belonging is really what locked me in with this school is a great sense of belonging here. So let's jump straight into the podcast here. And let's start back with some questions here to the peer mentors, which is what we're discussing today, you know, mostly peer mentorship. So I'm going to start with Georgia and they weren't going to sky. Why did you choose to become a pure mentor? Georgia?

Unknown Speaker 3:05
Yeah. So when I entered college, I had really bad imposter syndrome. Like I was convinced I was the only person at UNLV, that wouldn't be able to figure it out. And I had a great mentor who definitely showed me that that's not the case. And you'll find your way you'll find your people. And it was just an incredible experience. And I really was able to see myself doing this and helping other people once I found my groove and figured it out. And I just love being a resource to people and being able to make them feel more comfortable and at ease in a time. That's difficult, especially that big transition.

Unknown Speaker 3:40
That's excellent, because you know, they're their tablet came from San Diego State. And there was times when at the beginning of semester, I will see students literally standing on campus crying because they didn't know where to go for class. So it's definitely important to have those peer mentors there. Same question for you, Scott, what made you become a mentor?

Unknown Speaker 3:55
Yeah, so my decision was a bit different. So I didn't have any mentors. At first, I just jumped right into the program. So initially, I had met a friend and one of the kickboxing classes here at UNLV. And I was just telling her that I was looking for an on campus job, something that I would be good at and something that I can see myself growing. And she was a Pimentel herself. So she told me about the position. And so I applied, and she told me, I would be great for it, that I should always make this joke that I knew everybody that I could talk to just about anybody. So I decided to just give it a shot. So I applied I messaged the peer mentor email, and they got back to me. And then a couple months later, I was starting here as the Student Success peer mentor. So I just thought it would be something that I could also help other students with because even though I've never had a mentee, a mentor, I thought that I was pretty good at navigating the resources here on campus like that was one of the things that I really wanted to do learn the campus here. So I thought I thought that I was very capable of helping other students learn about those resources and maybe not have to go through like all the finding them that I did like all that I could give them that so they don't have to work as hard. And they can just focus on using the resources and go into class, instead of having to find the resources and talk to all these other people, they can just talk to me and I can help them out that way.

Unknown Speaker 5:24
Excellent. You know, some key things that you said there, you know, showing that you are friendly and able to talk to anyone is great attributes and being a peer mentor. So Dr. Gatto along with that, what are some of the other attributes? And how do you go about pick choosing your peer mentors? So

Unknown Speaker 5:40
I think what they both touched on was the the power of having a mentor, right? I think that's so critical. And I think it's very, very intimidating, right to be able to go up to someone and say, can you be my mentor, that can be very challenging. So for me, when I'm looking for mentors, I'm really looking for people who are just having the willingness to want to learn, but also those who are eager and being okay with sharing their mistakes, being vulnerable, being authentic, I think those specific traits are ones that I really, really looking for in that mentor. And then, which you'll find with both of these students, they're extremely involved outside of that on campus employment, many of them hold multiple different positions. Skye's also an orientation leader, Georgia has been able to compete in multiple different things within the College of Business. So I think they also bring a lot of their own personal lived experiences to share with those mentees.

Unknown Speaker 6:36
Wow, excellent. You know, I think it's so important that you know, especially when we get new students that come to UNLV, that it's so important to have have mentors, where they can actually just go up to him and be comfortable talking to them. Because so many times you know, I've heard students say, Oh, well, I can't go to to this person or to that person because you know, this, like they have them sitting on a pedestal, but students are students, they can talk become relaxed and be the authentic selves that you just spoke about. So that's excellent. And also, what was your experience? Sky as a mentee, did you have did either one of you have a mentee, you are? Georgia? What was that? Like?

Unknown Speaker 7:10
I'm having a mentor, you're being a mentee. I'm having

Unknown Speaker 7:13
it. What did you experience as a mentee? I'm sorry?

Unknown Speaker 7:17
Yeah. So when I was a mentee, like I said, I came in very, very vulnerable, very scared, I felt like I would never figure it out. And I was paired with a mentor who everyone said that she was the best. And she really was, she made me feel so comfortable. As a mentee, you in the business school, specifically, you have meetings with your mentor, and it can feel very intimidating, especially, you know, being one on one with someone that you've never met before, that can be very vulnerable, especially when you're in a position of a lot of change. And I just felt very comfortable and very impacted by her. And it completely turned around my experience and made me feel like, you know, I, I would be able to figure it out. I had people that I could go to I had people in the same position as me people who had been in that position before. And I just felt very comfortable. And it definitely made me want to come into that position and be able to make other people feel the same way.

Unknown Speaker 8:15
Excellent. Excellent. Well, sky. What's up support? do peer mentors provide their mentees? What kind of support do they offer those students? Yeah, so

Unknown Speaker 8:25
I think there's a lot of support, there's not only like the resources that we can offer them, but also that emotional support, and that, that personal experience that was mentioned earlier, we can give them a lot of our own personal experiences that will help them feel more comfortable coming into UNLV. And helping them with their struggles. So I haven't had many, many mentees myself, but the few that I have had, I've been very transparent with them very open about my experiences. You know, as a going into a senior, to my senior year, I have had my fair share of like failures and setbacks. And I tried to be as open with that experience with them as I can be. Because I know it's hard. And I know there's like this mindset of you have to be perfect in college, you have to be certain grades. You have to have a social life that's like, able to be balanced, but it's not always linear. And I always tried to help them understand that it's okay to have setbacks. And it's just the part of college that growth is important. And figuring out that balance is just a part of it. So I think just having that personal connection is is like the best resource there is. Of course with all the other campus on campus resources and things that we have offering to them. I think that that personal connection is the most important thing that mentees can have and that they can receive from us. And just that 100% transparency where we are, I am your mentor but I'm also a I'm, like, I'm here with you during college, I'm here to support you, and be honest with you, and give you the keys to success in a way. Excellent,

Unknown Speaker 10:08
excellent. So not to get our other any students that you can think of that came into your program, you know, a bit shy and timid, but ended up thriving after having this mentor, can you meet up?

Unknown Speaker 10:20
There's a lot, you know, and actually, I think that's where we actually find a lot of our mentors is because they've had that experience. And they realize how important and imperative it is to be able to have a mentor. So I think they start out with potentially struggling and having a difficult time. And then their mentor connects them with resources with individuals with different opportunities. And then that mentee really sees the value and they want to give back. And I think that's so important. And so it's really nice to be able to see those specific experiences of those mentees who now want to transition to be a mentor because they know the important work and the value of mentorship. Wow,

Unknown Speaker 10:59
excellent. And I'm sure that this has an impact on grades as well. Yes,

Unknown Speaker 11:04
yeah, absolutely. We actually see. So we do a lot of assessment. And so we're gathering that data. So we are actually following all of our mentees, we all so follow our mentors, in order to see if there's any impact with participating in mentorship. And we do see that there is an increase with those who are participating in mentorship, they are more likely to be retained and have a higher GPA.

Unknown Speaker 11:28
Yes. And I would think also that comes from that sense of belonging and feeling like they're a part of something, you know, and wanting to do good to make sure that whatever entity that they're involved with on campus is seen in a good light. So that's always excellent. What are some questions minty could ask their peer mentors? Sky? Oh, Georgia.

Unknown Speaker 11:49
Um, there are author of gosh, there's so many. Um, I think that the most important questions that I get happen to be people who need referrals, like, Oh, I'm not sure what classes I should take next semester, like, can you refer me to the advising center. But I definitely have also gotten some deeper questions like I'm having a lot of trouble at home. And I'm not sure how to go about talking to my professors to figure out how to navigate, you know, that schoolwork when I'm struggling a lot like mentally. It's definitely a bunch of different things that I've been asked as a mentor. And it's definitely a learning curve for me as well having to figure out how to help everyone in a different way. The number one thing that I've say that I would say that I've learned is that there's not a blueprint that you can follow with every single mentee, they're all extremely different. And it's amazing to see how you impact them all in different ways, and how they all have different needs. So I always try to make my mentees feel as comfortable as possible, they can come with me come to me with anything, and I will do my best to help them.

Unknown Speaker 12:54
Excellent, excellent. Latrice Kai,

Unknown Speaker 12:56
I would have to agree. I would also just say a lot of times, it's hard to first start developing that relationship, you know, building that rapport with your mentee. So I always make it open. Like George has mentioned mine, I'm that line of connection is always open and communication. I'm here for you, whatever you need, I will do my best to help you. I find it easy to just ask simple questions first. Like, how are you enjoying UNLV? Is there anything that you would like to work on maybe like something you would specifically like to get a bit? Are you interested in joining any clubs, stuff like that, and then just kind of see where it goes from there. And then from there, I feel like the connection, the the communication has been open. And then we kind of go back and forth and talk about our experiences. I give them some resources and stuff like that, then I'll offer to maybe go to certain events with them. So that's always something I like to mention to my mentees is I'm 100% always down like Georgia said to just go with them, do anything with them, whatever they need. I think that that is really important when just establishing that connection. It's not just like, Oh, I'm your mentor. This is just a program we're in. It's like deeper than that. Like, I want to be a part of your college experience. However I can. And I think that those are some questions that I would ask. And yeah, just be as honest with them as possible and make them known that like make it known that this is just like, I want to build that relationship with them. And I want to be 100% authentic with them. Excellent,

Unknown Speaker 14:27
excellent. Dr. Gatto, have there been opportunities are times when students have come to you where you had to refer outside of your department and with those referrals? Have you built relationships with other departments where you can call a particular person and say, Hey, this is what I have going on with this student. I want to refer them to you

Unknown Speaker 14:45
all the time. I think that's so important. And I think that's why it's great to be able to have these peer mentors rather. And again, I think it's important to have professional mentorship, but the Peer Mentors can talk about their own experience. So they're able to say A not only do I say well go talk to your academic advisor, but the peer mentors are able to say, this is what it actually is going to feel like when you're having that conversation with your academic advisor. These are the questions that I've asked. And these are the questions that I wish I would have asked. And so that's really important because they can give more of that real experience. Rather than me, I think as a professional, I can let them know about where to go, who you need to go to, but they're able to really be able to kind of thread what that story is going to look like for them. And so for me, I think in order to build that relationship, we do a lot of training with our peer mentors. So they're getting exposed to all of the resources. And anytime we can bring in presenters, so they actually get to have a warm handoff. So I'm not just sending you to avoid to have this empty office, but I'm actually able to now refer you to a specific person.

Unknown Speaker 15:51
Yeah, that's excellent. That's always good to be able to provide that warm handoff, from student to counselor. Help Let me ask the peer mentors, how can you dip Gatorade? And maybe you start this question, how can a student get connected with a pin peer mentor? Sure.

Unknown Speaker 16:07
So there's multiple different ways. So they are able to just contact our office directly. And so you can email us at peer mentor@unlv.edu directly, or majority of our peer mentors are actually going to be embedded in the first year seminar course. So all of our students, it's part of a graduation requirement. If you're in a First Year Seminar course you already have a peer mentor assigned to so you'll have an opportunity to meet that person while you're taking those classes.

Unknown Speaker 16:34
And what kind of suited to expect being in that first year seminar course? What's that like?

Unknown Speaker 16:39
Sure. So that's going to look a little different depending on what specific college they're in. But the majority of the time, the First Year Seminar, instructor is going to be in there, and they're going to introduce your peer mentor, then the peer mentor potentially will be offering workshops, maybe presentations, but then you also will have an opportunity to meet with your mentor. Some of the classes actually have it part of an assignment. So after you meet with a mentor, you'll be able to do a reflection paper. So just talk a little bit more about what that experience was for you. Wow, it

Unknown Speaker 17:10
sounds like there's a built in safety net to make sure that the students able to get connected on campus have someone that they can talk to so they don't feel alone because I know sometimes, you know, when freshmen especially freshmen are coming into college for the first time being away from home, they can kind of feel a little homesick. So it's kind of like automatically building in something where they can be connected and have that sense of belonging. Let me ask the mentees here, what is one piece of advice you would give an incoming first year student

Unknown Speaker 17:40
I, this is my one piece that I would always always tell any student is just don't be afraid to do things by yourself. When I first came here as a freshman, I made it my like 100 My like objective like this was my goal was to start fresh, and find my own way in college. So I did a lot of things by myself I did a lot of I went to a lot of events. By myself, I like I said I found a lot of those resources by myself, I made my friends like I had friends from high school, of course, but for the most part I did most want to start fresh and just build my own my new self, I suppose at college. So I think a lot of that wouldn't have been possible if I didn't step out of my comfort zone and just do things by myself. And to this day, like I had so much fun. Going to like Premiere UNLV by myself going to the Involvement Fair getting to know a lot of these clubs, like I'm in a lot of clubs right now because of it because I decided to like step out there and do stuff that's new. So I would just say 100% Do things that you're uncomfortable with do something new, you never know where it leads you. That is the point of college is growing to somebody that you're going to become for the rest of your life. So 100% It's worth it.

Unknown Speaker 18:53
Excellent. Um, I would say I've definitely figured out kind of what first year students need to hear or want to hear. And it's that you aren't alone. Like I've had people come to me saying that they're struggling in a class, I can promise them they're not the only one struggling to make friends. I've been there like it's we're all in the same boat. And it's very hard to come to the conclusion that we've all been there and we've all struggled and we've all you know overcome that and it's definitely very refreshing for them to hear like wow, like this person is my peer mentor and they've been in the same position as me and like look at them now. They're here helping students who are in the same position. So I think it just gives them a sense of comfort knowing that they will figure it out and they're not the only person that has ever gone through this struggle. Excellent.

Unknown Speaker 19:49
Excellent. So when you connect it with these peer mentors are these the same students that you keep the the next semester the next and the next or do they change on you guys?

Unknown Speaker 20:00
I assume it might be different from college to college. But for the business school specifically, we're assigned to them for one semester. So we're implemented into their first year seminar course. And then, you know, we give lectures, we do meetings with them, we build those connections with them. And then I always say at the end of the semester, like I'm your peer mentor for life, you can stay in contact with me, I'll answer any questions you have for the rest of your time in college and beyond that, so it's definitely it is a longer connection. And you know, I get coffee with some of my mentees, it definitely stay strong. Beyond that first course.

Unknown Speaker 20:38
Excellent, excellent. What would what advice would you give someone in become that was that was interested in becoming a peer mentor? Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 20:47
um, I would just say, be ready to have that open connection. And just to be honest, and authentic, I think anybody is able to become a mentor, especially since we've all done it. I would just 100% Say, just be be real, be authentic. These you were in their shoes at one point, you know, what it's like to struggle coming into college, having expectations, that might not be what they are going to be. Just if you're, if you're interested in it, do it, take the leap. It's, it's daunting, because you know, in a way, you these students are looking up to you for support. And it's hard sometimes, but it's so worth it when you see like, the growth and everything that they've overcome, and it's because of you. So I would just say, yeah, it's worth it. If you're interested in doing it, do it just just be real, and be yourself. Okay.

Unknown Speaker 21:46
Excellent. Excellent. Dr. Gatto, could you give us a few more attributes on the type of person that should apply? Or you know, so for someone that's maybe thinking, Man, I should apply for this position? How should they go about doing that? And what attributes should you think they should already have? Sure.

Unknown Speaker 22:06
So we we basically do the recruitment process once a year. So we start in the spring. So you'll start to see a lot of advertisement marketing, we'll go ahead and do some referrals and ask any of the mentors do you have any mentees who might have that interest in becoming a peer mentor, then they'll go through a traditional kind of interview process, we'll select them, they'll have training during the summer, and then they'll start that fall. So they have a lot of opportunities. So anyone who's interested, I would make a recommendation to talk to their mentor and say, What is it really like? How does it feel? I think it's difficult to really pinpoint specific attributes. Because for me, it's really just the willingness, because I think as professionals, it's our job to train up to be able to provide that specific new mentor with the resources, the skills, the knowledge, those attributes. So that's my responsibility so that they also feel supported. So then that way, they're feeling confident and competent in order to be a mentor. Excellent.

Unknown Speaker 23:05
And so some of the skills that they acquired, being a mentee or mentor and mentor rather, they're able to use that on their resume, correct?

Unknown Speaker 23:13
Yes. Yeah, absolutely. So that's anything from critical thinking and problem solving, communication, empathy, there's a lot of different skills that they now are able to obtain from this experience to then I hope, as they both mentioned, be able to use those in other different ways, whether that's continuing on with additional employment or hopefully even beyond when they graduate.

Unknown Speaker 23:36
Yeah, excellent. So they're getting more than just an opportunity or a paycheck to be a mentor, is you're building yourself, your future self when you're going out to employers and applying for jobs out in the community and beyond. Yeah, excellent. So what advice this is for the the mentees here, the mentors here, rather, what advice would you give someone interested in becoming a mentor? And how has this position helped you personally or professionally?

Unknown Speaker 24:03
Um, I would say, I would definitely tell them that it's a great position, you get to grow a lot as a person. And learning is definitely a two way street. Obviously, your mentees are learning from you, but I have learned so much from being a mentor. Um, I would say if you're interested in becoming a mentor to go for it, it's a great experience. And I think like Dr. Gato said, if you have the willingness and the drive and the passion, you can be amazing at it. Um, something that, like I said, I've learned before is it's not, you can't follow the same blueprint with every single student, they all need something different. And that was definitely something that it took me a little while to learn. When I realized that I can't take the same approach with every student and it was making me wonder why I was getting, you know, better responses from some of my mentees rather than others and I just had To adjust the way that I was going about being a mentor. So it's definitely it's a great way to learn. It's a great way to grow personally and professionally. And it's just it's, it's a great, it's a great job.

Unknown Speaker 25:12
Excellent, excellent. And sky, different question for you, what has been the biggest challenge in being a mentor?

Unknown Speaker 25:18
I would say making that connection with students like initially, I find that it's hard to you can't force a relationship. So having like, 30 minutes maybe, to get to know somebody, get them to feel comfortable enough with you, is a little hard. And then just maintaining that connection, because a lot of mentees, maybe they're they're not always constant consistently, like checking in. So I have to email them like, hey, follow up, do you want to have another meeting, and a lot of times, it's just radio silence. So I would just say making that connection, and then having it be consistent, because in my department, it's not like a seminar. So it's not like they have to meet with me. It's more like I'm helping those first year students out when they need it. So sometimes after that first meeting, I'll give them resources. And I'll give them my advice and everything that they've asked for, but then they don't want to continue that connection, which is 100%. Fine. But sometimes it's it's nice to keep that relationship going and to still meet with them and see them grow. And sometimes I don't get that opportunity. So I would say that's kind of like a challenge is just, you know, not getting to continue that relationship and just having it be like a one and done thing.

Unknown Speaker 26:37
Okay. Excellent. Excellent. Dr. Gatto, this question is for you. If money was not an issue at all, what would you like to see for the FYE Program and for your mentorship program?

Unknown Speaker 26:49
Wow, Oprah would come to the training with us. Gosh, you know, I really think that being able to have mentorship beyond first year now again, we're from the First Year Experience Program. And so we're really looking at being able to serve the first year students because we know how important it is for them to find that sense of belonging early on. But I would love to potentially scale this mentorship opportunity for all students. So that is for their full journey with UNLV. But even beyond, so even when you go out to the workforce, we're able to somehow connect you with maybe alumni or other individuals. And so I would really love to be able to see that mentorship continue to grow. Wow,

Unknown Speaker 27:32
that's excellent. And maybe on building as well. Okay, I'll take your biggest takeaway as a mentor.

Unknown Speaker 27:45
It's don't go into any situation with expectations. Everybody's different. Georgia had mentioned it, there's a lot of growth that comes with talking to people and getting to know them. So I would just say go in with an open mind and just have good intentions. And it'll, it'll be it'll work itself out.

Unknown Speaker 28:03
It'd be great. Excellent, excellent, biggest takeaway, Georgia? Oh, gosh,

Unknown Speaker 28:07
I would say, my biggest takeaway is definitely how powerful your impact can be just by being a listening ear for someone. When someone feels heard and valued it, it really makes them feel special and important. And it's a great feeling to know that you've impacted someone, especially when they're going through this difficult transition into college life. And it's just, it's helped me grow a lot in the sense of like, it is possible to make a difference, even just by, you know, taking a few hours out of your day to talk to students and build those connections and make them feel heard and valued. Excellent.

Unknown Speaker 28:46
Thank you, sky. And thank you, Georgia. Dr. Gatto, we're gonna leave the closing remarks for you. Yes,

Unknown Speaker 28:52
absolutely. So again, if you are listening out there, and if you are a potential new student, we are here to support you. So please make sure that you get connected to a peer mentor. Or if you're listening out there and you are interested in becoming a peer mentor, please do not hesitate to take that leap of faith and see if that is maybe a great opportunity for you. We are here for

Unknown Speaker 29:10
you. Excellent. And what email could they send an email to?

Unknown Speaker 29:14
Yeah, so it's peer mentor@unlv.edu. Excellent.

Unknown Speaker 29:18
Excellent. Thank you so very much. And that's going to bring this show to an end. I thank you. Dr. Gatto, I thank you Scott. And I think he Georgia for coming. And enlighten us on peer mentorship and FYE. So again, if you guys want to be a part of FY E, Pinto peer mentorship program, please reach out to Dr. Gatto and passerelle.

Dr. Renee Watson 29:43
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Transcribed by https://otter.ai