Interaction between upper and lower classmen

I have mentioned before in class that I have lived in private certified housing during my entire career here on campus. Additionally, I (and Fred as well) have been an active member in our local church youth group (the same church the people who own Brown House, where I live, go to). My reason for mentioning this is that because of this, I feel that I have been exposed to a unique opportunity with respect to the availability of mentors, specifically the upper classmen being able to help the lower classmen. While I realize that my experience may be somewhat unique, and not applicable in the general sense, I still wish to share and reflect on it.

When I moved in as a freshman, there were three other guys living there. One, who I will call “J”, went to the same local church as me and was a senior. Suffice it to say, it was wonderful living with someone who “knew the ropes” and could help me through freshman year. This was, in my opinion, somewhat of an ideal mentoring situation. The fact that we lived together and got to know each other on a much more personal basis allowed for very free conversation. Instead of an official “mentor” where you meet someone once a week, this was much more informal, and could occur on an “as needed basis”.

Suffice it to say, I felt that I greatly benefitted from living with an upper classman. The question then becomes “was my situation unique, or could it be reproduced?” The answer is somewhat multifaceted. I know that it isn’t completely unique, because Fred lives in a house set up in a very similar manner (as does Joe, if I am not mistaken). However, these are all private housing, and are associated with a particular church, making the people somewhat more homogenous and better able to get along and relate to each other. Although I have never personally experienced it, my guess would be that trying to implement a “Senior-Freshman” mentoring situation in the dorms would be somewhat difficult. I recall others in our class (Sophia, maybe) saying that they did room with a senior when they were a freshman, but that it didn’t work out so well. Again, since I never lived in a dorm, I really can’t speak to how well it allows freshman and seniors to interact. This is merely speculation, but perhaps putting freshman and seniors on the same floor of the dorm would work (or maybe they already do this- I don’t know).

The second (though somewhat related to the first) means by which I interacted with seniors when I was a freshman was through a local church group. As a simple explanation, we are all members of the same national “Apostolic Christian church”, one local congregation of which is located in Champaign. The group, called the ACYG (Apostolic Christian Young Group) is a means for young believers to have interaction with other Christians on the college campus. We are a tight knit group and there is a wide age range of members. Basically, for me the group was/is a fantastic way for me to find good mentors, as I was/am able to directly and personally interact with people older and wiser than me (some of whom might actually be reading this blog!) It should be noted that mentoring is a byproduct, not an explicit goal of the group. The very fact that we do a lot together and are able to get to know each other more personally allows mentorship and guidance from the older to the younger to happen naturally.

The question follow up question is again “how does this apply to other students on campus?” I guess my suggestion would be to find a group and become an active member in it. The more you get to know people and the more you do with them, the more you can learn from them. Also, try to find a group of people who are interested in the same things you are, as it will make getting to know them and getting along with them easier.

(As a post script, I am now in my third year at Brown House, and suddenly find myself in the role of mentor, not mentee. There are two freshmen in the house, one of whom is my brother. While I don’t explicitly mentor them, it still is a natural byproduct of living together. We are very comfortable with each other, and thus it is very easy to have open conversation about a broad range of topics.)