Shotime 2015 was a wonderful experience for me! It was my first Shotime as a mentor since I am a sophomore, and I had decided to partake in Shotime this year because of the great time I had last year. My mentors were excellent and I wanted the opportunity to provide the same warm welcome to other students like my mentors had provided me. The first day started out with registration and move-in. I already was taken back to my time as a freshman last year and how excited I was to start at Schreyer. Thankfully it didn’t rain as is so feared on any move-in day. Caitlin, my co-mentor and I, were anxious to meet our mentees and we were not disappointed. After Tears and Cheers ended, we were able to do some icebreakers and allow the group to get comfortable with each other. It turned out that our group of students was very social and did not have an issue getting along with each other. I was thrilled because I remember how last year I became more relaxed after I realized the other kids in my Shotime group were so easy and nice to talk to. I could see the same thing happening for the students in my group. I also had the opportunity to participate in Chris’ training for Playfair. I had so much fun learning the process that Chris goes through to make sure every student feels included during Playfair. Playfair was phenomenal, I believe all the mentees in our group had a great time and were excited to see what the next day was going to be like.

The next day was a more informative day for the incoming scholars. However, it also helped me. As all the new students were learning about the many requirements of Schreyer, I was reminded of several tasks I had to complete as well. The Distinguished Honors Faculty Lecture that followed was compelling to listen to and had a great overall message. I agreed with many of the points that Dr.Rues made in her presentation. I agree with her ideas about changing the world and the fact that we each have the power to make an impact. I do believe that every one of us can have a positive impact on the world if we pursue an idea we are passionate about. Her message was very powerful because she proved that anyone from any background can do this type of work if that is their goal.  It did seem like it was hard for the students to stay focused for both events, since they were back to back.

One of my favorite parts of the day was the book discussion. My roommate and I decided to host one of the discussion on the book The Honor Code. I expected something similar to my discussion last year where we mainly discussed the themes of the book and the different parts of the book. However, I was blown away by the in-depth conversation we had about the main theme of The Honor Code and how it related to the many aspects of today’s life. Our group related Appiah’s ideas to how we view politics today in this country. We also discussed how honor is related to the image of universities and especially Penn State’s image. Other topics discussed were related to war, the image of women in many countries, and even global economies. It was an excellent conversation and I was happy to see that everyone in our room was able to contribute to the discussion in some way.

The Brain Show was probably the most exciting part of the day. Caitlin and I tried explaining to our mentees how the Brain Show worked but they were a lot more thrilled when they walked into the room and saw the setup. The event was a great way to bring the group together because every time a team member would go up on stage the rest of the group would cheer for them. Even if someone lost, they would get several high fives when they came back. After the event was over, they could not stop talking about the different dance moves and questions. All the mentees seemed to have a good time and at this point it seemed they were very comfortable with each other as well. It was good to see they were adjusting well since that was the main goal for Caitlin and I.

The third day started out with the Town and Gown event. I thought the event was more interactive than it was last year which was nice. The students really got to talk to the members of the community and ask them questions. Our group was able to talk to the member from the Mount Nittany Conservatory and the woman from the Red Cross Association. The students enjoyed asking questions about the hike up to Mount Nittany since many of them are eager to cross that off their Penn State bucket lists. They also found out the best way to get there and what were the best points to hike to on the mountain. The representative Red Cross gave them great information on how they could donate blood and also how they could volunteer with the association.

The tug of war group event was fun, the entire team was able to get involved. Part of the team would tug the rope while the other half cheered enthusiastically for them. The other event that I thought was a great addition to Shotime was the diversity workshop. It is really important to know that college is a place to grow and explore who you are and the workshop allowed the students to realize that. It’s true that we don’t really ask these hard questions from ourselves or from others. The workshop was able to get the students to discuss their beliefs in a safe space and become more comfortable with each as an entire class. I really liked that concept and thought it worked very well. The only criticism I would have is that I feel that the students would have felt more open throughout the discussion had they had prior knowledge of the event.

At dinner everyone wrote their letters. I was surprised to see that everyone wrote almost two pages for their letters. Some of them had the others sign their letters and they all made sure they had each others’ numbers. It was just great to see that they had all become friends, after all that was the goal of this orientation. Late night with the dean was hilarious, I had a great time and I could see all my mentees laughing around me. The different quiz shows and the lip dub were very funny!

Being a mentor was absolutely amazing and I feel so grateful to have had such a great group of mentees! I feel so humbled to be a part of these students’ first days of college. To be able to make their transition to college even the slightest bit easier gave me so much joy. As a freshman last year, I was so thankful to know that I had some sort of group even before school started and I hope the freshman I had feel that way as well.  I am still in touch with my Shotime group and mentors so I know these relationships can really create an impact on the freshman. This was a wonderful experience and I would love to do it again!