Benefiting from Peer Mentoring and Accountability With the start of a new year, you might already be thinking about upcoming deadlines and your goals for the semester. These deadlines, tasks, and responsibilities can be overwhelming. Here at GradPro, we encourage you to take a step back and reimagine the type of social support that you will need to accomplish all of your competing goals, while not losing sight of what is truly important—your emotional and physical wellbeing. If you are looking for an affirming approach to accountability this semester, GradPro’s check-in groups might offer the type of support you need! Every semester, GradPro facilitates weekly check-in groups which are specifically designed to provide peer mentoring support to graduate students. These check-in groups are facilitated by experienced Professional Development Liaisons (PDLs), advanced graduate students from a wide variety of disciplines. Every week, check-in groups convene around themed discussions which address the multitude of challenges that graduate students face, such as time management and imposter syndrome. Check-in groups also provide participants with space to share information about on and off-campus resources and to establish and reflect upon weekly academic and personal goals. Finally, the groups also provide an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate academic achievements. The demand for check-in groups has grown consistently over the past four years, which allows GradPro to offer multiple check-in group options. To this end, GradPro actively collaborates with campus partners, including the Office of Graduate Diversity, to carefully design check-in groups that support students of diverse and intersecting identities. For example, we have offered check-in groups for students who are Black Indigenous People of Color or who are first-generation and/or low-income. This coming semester we will offer a check-in group for LGBTQ+ students. Other groups are organized by discipline or degree, including groups for masters and professional students and for students who prefer to be in a mixed-discipline group. If you are interested in learning more about the check-in groups that GradPro will offer this spring semester, consider attending a virtual information session on January 10th or 13th. Please register to attend an info session. Remember, here at GradPro we are a community that is dedicated to supporting every step of your journey! About the Author: Martha Ortega Mendoza is a first-generation college student pursuing a doctorate in the Graduate School of Education. Currently, Martha serves as a PDL and is excited to connect with fellow graduate students.
Benefiting from Peer Mentoring and Accountability With the start of a new year, you might already be thinking about upcoming deadlines and your goals for the semester. These deadlines, tasks, and responsibilities can be overwhelming. Here at GradPro, we encourage you to take a step back and reimagine the type of social support that you will need to accomplish all of your competing goals, while not losing sight of what is truly important—your emotional and physical wellbeing. If you are looking for an affirming approach to accountability this semester, GradPro’s check-in groups might offer the type of support you need! Every semester, GradPro facilitates weekly check-in groups which are specifically designed to provide peer mentoring support to graduate students. These check-in groups are facilitated by experienced Professional Development Liaisons (PDLs), advanced graduate students from a wide variety of disciplines. Every week, check-in groups convene around themed discussions which address the multitude of challenges that graduate students face, such as time management and imposter syndrome. Check-in groups also provide participants with space to share information about on and off-campus resources and to establish and reflect upon weekly academic and personal goals. Finally, the groups also provide an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate academic achievements. The demand for check-in groups has grown consistently over the past four years, which allows GradPro to offer multiple check-in group options. To this end, GradPro actively collaborates with campus partners, including the Office of Graduate Diversity, to carefully design check-in groups that support students of diverse and intersecting identities. For example, we have offered check-in groups for students who are Black Indigenous People of Color or who are first-generation and/or low-income. This coming semester we will offer a check-in group for LGBTQ+ students. Other groups are organized by discipline or degree, including groups for masters and professional students and for students who prefer to be in a mixed-discipline group. If you are interested in learning more about the check-in groups that GradPro will offer this spring semester, consider attending a virtual information session on January 10th or 13th. Please register to attend an info session. Remember, here at GradPro we are a community that is dedicated to supporting every step of your journey! About the Author: Martha Ortega Mendoza is a first-generation college student pursuing a doctorate in the Graduate School of Education. Currently, Martha serves as a PDL and is excited to connect with fellow graduate students.