Week 15

From my internship in the First Year Residential Experience program, working as a "FYRE Fellow", I gained things that will benefit me for the rest of my life. I learned lessons that can only be learned if you're actually living among the first year residents and experiencing their first year residential experiences along with them throughout the semester. I learned to live under circumstances where you are in charge of numerous freshman who are away from home for the first time. I developed and grew tremendously from this experience while meeting many different people along the way from various backgrounds and locations nationwide. Some of the skills I gained were learning to advise, counsel, tutor, and mentor these first year residents beyond what I thought I was capable of. I feel that this was a positive experience. At first I felt that this was going to be very difficult. For this type of intership, I had to step outside of my comfort zone a bit and become more open and engaging with these first year residents. I found it necessary to do this because they came to me in various circumstances with personal problems, stories, or things they were dealing with when they just needed someone to vent to. Simply put, I was the go-to guy for them. I was the person that they looked to for feedback, kind of like a big brother. Looking at the big picture, I feel that this affected me in a positive way. I hope that the First Year Residential Experience program has positively affected other residents in the way that it has affected me.