Resources and Referrals

Before Thursday's class I thought I had known a decent amount about our campus resources that are available for our use. After Thursday's class I realized I was wrong! Haha. Although I had known of the main resources like the Student Health Center, Career Services, Student Services, Academic Success Center, Writing Center, etc. I didn't realize how much was included inside all of these services. I had only really known the main ones I have used in the last couple years, but I am glad that we talked about many other resources not all of us normally think of right away such as the Multicultural Center, or the women's center. This allowed me to understand what resources might be of use to someone else who may be in need of those specific services. It is important to know all of these to better serve our mentees.

One thing that I also found very useful was the how to refer and when to refer discussions. I had not known this information before this unit but once again it is valuable information that we all need to know as peer mentors. Our mentees will have to feel like they are able to come to us with any situation they are presented with and it is our job to know how to help them out. Not only do we have to know where to send them in order to get the best advice but we need to be able to recognize when we can no longer help them and who actually can. One of the most important things we discussed was showing respect towards our mentees. By this I mean helping them find where to go to solve their problems but also nudging them in the right direction and not doing it for them. Coming to college is a big change in responsibility and sometimes it makes you feel almost older then you really are for all of the responsibilities you now have to take care of on your own. This being said, I truly believe that they need to learn how to take care of things on their own with the guidance of others so they can really learn how to live life and take responsibility over their own life. Yes we still do need to guide them in the right direction but it is also important to let them take the wheel and drive their life where it needs to go.

For the blogging prompt I chose to use the situation with Rachel and not knowing how much to take out in loans and/or how to budget for the upcoming semester. I would say this has a medium urgency rating because although it is not as high as self harm it is pretty important and needs to be taken care of as soon as possible so she has enough money to register for classes and also has enough time to find a job if needed. To further understand the situation I could ask what loans she has already taken out and if she knows how to take them out, if she knows what loans she qualifies for, and if she already has a budget that she is currently using. When needing to make a referral to her because according to the situation I am not completely knowledgeable on the help she is needing I would refer her to the Financial Counseling Services. I would sit down with her and say that I understand the frustrations she is going through and I want to help her in the best way possible which is why I would like to refer her to the FCS because I know they will be able to give her the best help, and that I know some professors there who could help her! To build up their confidence to use the FCS I would hand her brochures from the place and maybe tell her a little bit more of what to expect when going there and also give her contact information of people there so that she feels extra comfortable with the situation and is willing to go. Personalizing the situation I feel as if I would have already done by giving her the contact information of the professors I know as well as helping her find out the information and letting her know what to expect from the process; I would also keep it personal by following up with her about a week later to see how the process is going and figure out if she has followed through with her plans. I would continue with these follow ups until I knew she was sitting in a good understanding with her financial issues/frustrations.