Fall 2018 – Spring 2019

6 Minutes Read

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Description: Supplemental Instruction (SI) is an academic assistance program that utilizes peer-assisted study sessions to increase student success in historically difficult courses. SI sessions are held 3 to 4 times per week by an SI leader who has already mastered the course material in a specific course. SI sessions are held 3 to 4 times per week by an SI leader who has already mastered the course material in a specific course. The SI leader is faculty-recommended and extensively trained to facilitate group sessions where students can meet to compare notes, improve their understanding of course material, review and discuss difficult concepts, develop study strategies, and prepare for exams.

In my Sophomore year of college, I applied for my second official job where I got paid. This was also my second-ever job on campus. I thoroughly enjoyed my time working in this position because I know I learned so much and at the same time, I was able to positively impact a student’s life and experience in college. I was just so amazed at the growth I had at the end of my time working for the SI program at Chico State. I was able to work on developing lesson plans, presenting skills, public speaking, classroom management, and interpersonal and intrapersonal skills.

One thing that I come to learn about myself working in this position and specifically with this population is that I love working with students who have a background in being a first-generation, historically low-income, and minority background. I relate so much to what these students have endured and gone through and seeing their growth throughout the semester inspired me to continue with my education and future goals. There is something so rewarding about seeing how much my students have grown and how much they still thank me whenever they see me on campus. They continue to validate that my effort and caring nature have positively impacted their college experience for the better.

My work hours were great and it was worked around my school schedule so I rarely had any time conflicts between work and school. Plus, since it was an on-campus job, I could just go straight from class to work or work to class without a hassle. The pay was good too and I was able to make a bit of money that I both saved and used. I was finally able to start buying things that I needed and wanted besides using the money I received from financial aid. I did notice that in my Sophomore year, I started to gain a bit more weight because I was eating more due to bringing in a little income. It was probably stress eating as well.

The professors I provided SI for were Amy in the Fall and Tray in the Spring. Both professors were super easy and fun to work with. They made my job very easy because they would always provide me with good topics and subjects to cover each week and things I could focus on in my sessions to help the students. They always treated me with respect and worked with me in a manner that allowed my talent and passion to shine. I will share one thing from each class that I will always remember.

For Amy’s CMST 132 course, this semester was when the tragic Camp fire erupted and destroyed the town called Paradise a few hours above Chico. Many people in the area were affected and people escaping the fire needed help and assistance. For the last month of the semester, Amy decided that our class would adopt a few families that needed help and we were able to get donations from the community and create these Christmas bundles with supplies and goodies to help these families get back on their feet a little bit. Seeing the faces of Amy and my CMST students do good and work hard wrapping and transporting the supplies to the center to distribute to the families made me very warm and fuzzy inside especially seeing them make an impact early on in their college careers.

For Tray’s MCGS 155 course, Tray was my previous teacher so I was familiar with working with him and I knew his style of teaching. Tray keeps tabs on me from time to time and we still keep in touch because he is also a mentor of mine. He knew I had performed spoken word in various areas and that I went to APAHE back in my freshmen year (because I had to miss one of his classes to go). He wanted to incorporate my spoken word experience into his course as an assignment. So, he allowed me to develop that assignment and present it to him. It got APPROVED and it was later implemented later in the semester. I was super stoked to hear my students spit their game and story in class as each student was recorded and all the clips were combined into one long 10-minute highlight clip of all the students. I, unfortunately, will not be sharing it as those are stories that I will not expose y’alls to. Just know they all enjoyed the assignment and it was amazing and powerful hearing their story and upbringing. Thank you to all my students for being vulnerable and sharing. I also went and attached the assignment presentation below so y’all can see what I made for them.

I have also attached the student evaluations my students had to complete and give to me at the end of each semester as feedback for the SI leaders. I think if I were ever questioned if I am as genuine of a person as I say I am, I would just show this to those people. I care a lot about the things I do and I invest emotionally and physically into my work. My student’s heartfelt answers on the surveys attest to this. It also made me very proud and happy to see I was a good enough SI leader that some of my students from the Fall semester wanted to have me again in the Spring semester too! Safe to say, I was an amazing SI leader! Overall, this was a great experience that I was blessed with.