Engage Students  Authentically

“A community college student has a lot going on. They’re potentially living at home, working a part-time job, going to school full-time. They might not be able to commit to the traditional student leadership role, like being a resident assistant or being involved in student government. This provides them with the ability to be able to mentor somebody, to feel like they’re developing leadership skills, and feel like they’re doing something outside of the classroom. Those are the types of students we’re seeing signing up to be mentors.” 

“Effortless Perfection, that version of imposter syndrome, cuts across all groups here at Duke. Everyone experiences it; students, staff, professors. What it means is having the expectation to accomplish it all – the perfect grades, internship, etc –but to do it in a way that lacks visible effort. What I find is that my FGLI students don’t know that it’s a myth. They don’t know it’s a performance…Being able to have a peer mentor, someone they trust, that  says ‘this isn’t real’ has been really helpful in intervening in that culture.”