First Year Programs
"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
African Proverb
Overview:
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During my time at UW as a transfer student, I have held 4 different roles within First Year Programs (FYP). I currently work as a Student Associate and have served as a Transfer Ambassador and a Transfer Peer Mentor, as well as a member of the First Year Experience (FYE) council. I wanted to work with FYP because I greatly enjoy working with students and I had ideas for programming to help the transfer student community at UW. This experience was valuable to me because through each of my roles I was able to work with others to implement my ideas.
Personal Importance of task or work:
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Ever since I started college, I have been interested in working to help improve student life. At my first school, I served on a residence hall committee and I greatly enjoyed planning events for students living on campus. When I first transferred to UW, I’ll admit, I felt very lost in the crowd. I had a difficult time my first quarter transitioning to a school with 46,000 people, and as a commuter student I had a hard time meeting people. I volunteered for the FYE council and signed up to be a Transfer Ambassador during my first quarter because I wanted to help connect transfer students so that there would be a stronger transfer student community on campus. I wanted to build a stronger community so that transfer students could succeed at UW.
"Take what you need" wall in the Commuter and Transfer Commons
Tasks accomplished:
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Served on panels at Transfer Advising & Orientation sessions as a student speaker
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Developing and implementing ideas for programming in the Commuter and Transfer Commons (CTC).
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Acting as a representative for the transfer student community as a member of the FYE council
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Providing excellent customer service and connecting students to appropriate resources at the CTC.
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Initiating communication with my mentees and offering suggestions and advice as a Transfer Peer Mentor.
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Served as a student speaker at a UW Board of Regents meeting in April 2018.
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Analyzing funding reports and proposals from various UW offices and proposing measures to be taken to benefit transfer students.
Leadership Competencies Gained:
Idea Generation
During my first and second quarter at UW, when I was still a volunteer for FYP, I brainstormed a lot of ways to help connect transfer students on campus. I was a regular at the CTC and I came up with ideas for events to be held there, such as “de-stress” coloring Wednesdays. I told FYP staff about my ideas, which eventually led to me getting hired as a student associate for FYP this quarter, where I have had the opportunity to come up with even more ways to build a strong transfer student community.
Initiative
When I held my volunteer roles through FYP during my first and second quarter at UW, I admit that I became very engaged with them and started constantly thinking of ways to build community among transfer students. I researched organizations similar to FYP at other schools and found some inspiration for events that could happen for transfer students at UW. I eventually got the idea to reach out to FYP staff about my ideas. Two of my ideas for events (“destress” coloring Wednesdays and a muffin breakfast event) actually ended up happening in the CTC, even though I was still just a volunteer. I’m really glad that I reached out to FYP staff and didn’t just shy away from my ideas, which I have done in the past.
A poster for the "de-stress" coloring event I organized in the CTC.
The muffin breakfast event from last year.
Helping Others
The main reason I wanted to get involved with FYP was to help others, specifically transfer students. I have been able to help transfer students in different ways with each of my roles. As a Transfer Ambassador, I have served at many A & O sessions as a student speaker, where I have answered questions and given advice to new transfer students. As a student associate I welcome students to the CTC, answer their questions, and help plan events to be held there. As a Transfer Peer Mentor, I have worked more closely with a smaller group of students to help them with their transition to UW. As a member of the FYE council, I provide input on where funding could be distributed on campus to benefit transfer students.
Collaboration
As a student associate, I regularly collaborate with other student associates and professional FYP staff. We have staff meetings every week to discuss programming and communications within the CTC. All of us actively participate in meetings and provide feedback on each person’s ideas in order to reach a solution we all agree on. With the FYE council, there are students representing other communities of students on campus (greek life, CLUE tutoring, etc). We actively discuss how funding in different areas on campus would affect the communities we are representing.
The Commuter and Transfer Commons (CTC)
Creating Change
For all of my roles in FYP, I am always trying to answer the question, “What isn’t working and what can be done about it?” I initially wanted to create change within the transfer student community by organizing events for students to connect. When those events happened, students were able to more easily meet other people. I also aim to create change as a member of the FYE council by providing input on where funding can be distributed on campus.
Lessons learned and future oriented statement:
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I am very grateful for the skills I have learned through each of my roles in FYP. I am very happy that I found an environment on campus where I was able to use my creativity to generate positive change. Taking on each of these roles helped strengthen my confidence as both a leader and a student. I now know that having the ability to be creative and meet other people are qualities that I am looking for in a long-term career.