Texas Wesleyan started its mentorship program in spring 2005 with the hopes of keeping students in school and focused.
It began as a program for students fresh out of high school who were coming to Wesleyan feeling lost and overwhelmed. In fall 2008 it blossomed even further by being offered to transfer students as well.
“I think that it should give new students a person that they can go to on-campus,” said Blair Ensign, coordinator of new student programs and transfer liaison at Wesleyan. “Someone they feel comfortable with who can answer their questions and concerns.”
New college students need a lot of support systems to keep them on track, Ensign said, which is another brick in the path that students journey down, another way to keep them moving forward.
Joe Brown, dean of freshman success and professor of theater and communication, is a mentor. He doesn’t believe he is a good one though. He has a lot of responsibilities and tells everyone he is a “sucky mentor” because he is not always able to give full attention to his mentoring duties. One of his mentee’s, Axel Leos, has the exact opposite to say about Brown.
“My awesome mentor, Pro Joe, has helped me network with other people and has even taken me to career services at Wesleyan to assist me in finding a major, which I’ve yet to declare, and using Wesleyan’s resources to aid me,” Leos said. “Joe has always asked me if my grades are good, how I’ve been, and it shows me that I can trust and talk to him for whatever I need.”
Leos said the program builds up confidence and trust for shy people like him.
“I think the mentorship program is essential for any student,” Leos said. “Being the shy person I am, I probably wouldn’t go up to people I don’t know, so having a mentor helps me adjust to college life and open up.”
The program is completely volunteer-based. New students can choose whether to be involved in the program or not, and Wesleyan faculty, staff and upperclassmen choose to be a mentor to a student.
“If a professor wanted to be a mentor to an upperclassman and then, in turn, that student was a mentor to a lowerclassman, that would be great,” Brown said.
When the mentorship program started in 2005, 70 faculty and staff responded to the call for volunteers and were matched with their mentees. Since then, the number of mentors has slightly decreased to 51, while 127 mentees remain. This spring presented 13 new mentees as well.
Trena Watson, a senior psychology major and mentor, and Natesha Wright, her mentee and freshman psychology major, spoke at the mentorship luncheon held Feb. 17.
Wright hails from Virginia and didn’t know anything about Texas Wesleyan, let alone about Fort Worth. Watson took Wright under her wing and guided her in all aspects of her life, Wright said.
Watson even coached Wright through making gumbo for her family when she went home over winter break.
“I didn’t think I’d done it well,” Wright said. “I was so afraid I hadn’t done it right, but I called and texted Trena and she said it looked right and my family said it was good. So, I was happy.”
Watson and Wright think of each other as family now and plan to keep in touch after Watson graduates in May.
“I think because Natesha’s family is in another state she needed another family to be here to support her and be there for her,” Wright said.
Ensign stressed that the success of the program varies from person to person.
“Some mentors and mentees have not been able to get along or there have been other complications, like one of them is too busy to be as active in the program as they had hoped,” she said. “A lot of people like it and get good experiences and some don’t. It’s a matter of personalities.”
But sometimes, it can create the right match.
“I didn’t think I could do it because I’m older. I didn’t think I had the time and how was I supposed to relate to her,” Trena said. “I ask her about her day and her classes. I text her often to see what she’s up to and it has had a significant impact on both of our lives.”
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