Encore!

By Alex McArthy

With the Student Success Program, the Learning Center, and Transitions class, freshman and transfer students have many tools in order for them to achieve academically. But academics is only part of college life.

Last year, SXU began offering a comprehensive peer mentoring experiment called Encore! to help students learn about life situations, health, socializing, budgeting, time management and other topics
Students can play one of two roles, student mentors and protégés. Student Mentors are upperclassmen who are successful in academics, athletics or campus leadership roles, and acts as adviser and councilor for protégés for the entire semester. They go through a strict interview and vetting process and their job is to help you achieve your personal goals that you outline at the beginning of the year.

Protégé is the other role, which I took on last year. This position is for freshman and sophomores who want or need help in an area. As mentioned before, it could be really for anything, though academics is a primary focus.

Three protégés are assigned to each Student Mentor. As a protégé, you get to choose who you want as a Mentor after a community meeting. If you are not sure, they pair you up according to what you have in common, which works out great. Each week, the protégés meet with their mentor for an hour, some individually and others in groups.

My personal experience in Encore! was, simply put, amazing. Every week, the four of us would gather in the conference room in Regina Hall. My mentor, Alexis, would always have some delicious food for us (we got to pick it ourselves). We would then sit there and simply hang out, talk about the topic for that week and update her on the progress for our goals.

She would pay individual attention to us as well. Being a fellow ”poli sci” major, she often advised me on what professors I should take a class with, and others to stay away from.

The entire experience allowed me to be successful. Not only did I get a 4.0 that semester thanks to Alexis bugging me about my homework but I also grew spiritually. I was the only male, and the only Caucasian as well. Hours of talking with my group over the course of the 16 weeks really gave me a different perspective. I have come to learn and appreciate other people’s ideas, beliefs, and culture a lot more than I had in my previous “ignorance.”

Under Elijah Ward and Dr. Thomas, this experiment was a complete success, so they are doing it again this year. If you want to improve yourself in any way (there is always room for improvement), make lifelong friends, and become more involved I urge you to join Encore! You can email encore@sxu.edu. It is an amazing resource for all first- and second-year students.

Alex McArthy is a sophomore political science major from St. Louis, Missouri. He is an RHA National Communications Coordinator, president of the Cougar Crazies, a Public Safety supervisor and an SXU Student Ambassador. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.