Campus Voices: My experience as a Peer Advisor


This is the first in an occasional series of first-person accounts from Panthers about life on campus. Christian Williams is a junior from Queens, N.Y. He is majoring in mass communication with a concentration in public relations. He wrote this account of his year as a Peer Advisor for FIU News.

You’ve seen us walking backward with groups of students on tours around campus. You’ve heard us cheering in the hallways of the Graham Center, and shouting “PAWS!” Maybe you’ve seen us rocking our blue and gold jerseys. But what do you really know about the Peer Advisors (PAs)?

The Peer Advisors are a group of up to 40 students, on both the Modesto A. Maidique Campus and Biscayne Bay Campus, who dedicate an entire year to serving incoming freshmen and transfer students. They are an integral part of the FIU Orientation program, serving as orientation leaders – providing tours, assisting with academic advising and helping our new students fall in love with their university. I had the chance to serve as a 2011 Peer Advisor, and to say that the experience changed my life at FIU would be an understatement.

Christian (left) accepts Raul Perez's Peer Advisor shirt.

My fraternity big brother, Raul Perez, was a 2010 Peer Advisor. He was always telling me about how tiring, yet rewarding, being a Peer Advisor was. I saw him grow as a person through his membership in the program, and I wanted to follow in his footsteps and continue the tradition. After an information session, initial application and grade/conduct screening process, I attended a group interview. We participated in group activities, and the orientation staff evaluated our ability to work with others, our knowledge of campus resources and our love for FIU. After I was chosen as a finalist, I was interviewed again with another applicant. I painstakingly waited for a month and a half to see if I would become a 2011 Peer Advisor.

My fellow PAs and I were announced at a public ceremony at the GC Pit on the first day of the spring semester – my big brother was there to pass his 2010 jersey over to me. Four days later, we started our first day of training at 8 a.m. – our first of 20 weeks of trainings (held every Friday). In order to build community among our students, we first had to build a community among ourselves. We packed our bags and headed toward Ft. Myers Beach for our PA retreat.

At our retreat, we learned a great deal about our roles as orientation leaders. We also learned much more about each other. There were many laughs and a lot of tears. We became so close that, at the end of the day, most of us pulled our beds out of our rooms and slept as a big group in the living room of the retreat center. After an amazing weekend, we headed back to Miami with strong bonds that would last the entire year.

When we arrived home, it was time to prepare for the Southern Regional Orientation Workshop (SROW).  This conference helps prepare students for their summer as orientation leaders through educational sessions and spirit-building activities. We created games, cheers and dances to share with orientation leaders from other schools in the South. The conference was at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La. At the conference, we screamed our lungs out with our counterparts from other universities. We danced and cheered, then came back to Miami without our voices.

Our trainings continued every Friday until the week right before our first freshman orientation. We learned everything there is to know about FIU – history, traditions, departments and offices – as much information as needed to answer any questions our students had. We learned about diversity and being able to build strong relationships with different types of people. The final piece of the process was Training Marathon, a week of intense trainings beginning at 8 in the morning and sometimes ending as late as midnight. Finally, we saw the finish line – graduation, where we were officially honored as Peer Advisors. That Monday, we got our first group of freshmen, and orientation season officially began.

Then, the story begins to tell itself – through the 7,000 fresh, new faces that went through our orientation program. They include more than 140 of my freshmen students, known as Christian’s Cosmos. Small groups of freshmen were assigned to me at the beginning of each of the 13 freshman orientation programs I participated in. From leading the campus tour to assisting in class registration, I was able to be there to help them during the course of the entire two-day experience.

Although the summer is now long gone, my freshmen continue to impact me through their friendship and spirit. I have never been happier to roll out of bed at 7 a.m. just to walk one of my lost students to class. I love having dinner with groups of my freshmen, who sometimes make me laugh so hard that tears start rolling down my face. I was honored to provide advice and guidance to one of my freshmen when he had to decide whether or not to drop a class. Fellow peer advisors and I are more than glad to play volleyball with our students. During the summer, we even organized a community service trip to Key Largo with some of our freshmen to help save injured and stranded whales!

Knowing that I had an impact on their future just through being their friend and a member of their support system continues to bring a smile to my face every time one of them goes out of their way to greet me. Truth is, my peer advising experience gave as much to me as I did to my freshmen. Through peer advising, I became more confident in myself and my ability to lead. Before this program, I would have never had the confidence to run for FIU’s 2011 homecoming king. It also gave me new friends; I have freshmen that have ended up becoming close buddies, and the Peer Advising team has become like another family to me.

While I am sad my time as a Peer Advisor is up, I am excited for what is to come for my freshmen and me. No matter where they will be 10 years from now, they will always still know me as ‘their Peer Advisor,’ and they will forever be known to me as my ‘little Cosmos.’

The deadline to apply to become a 2012 Peer Advisor is Nov. 14. Click here for more information on how to become a 2012 Peer Advisor or visit the Peer Advisor page on Facebook.

Check out this student-produced Peer Advisor recruitment video below:

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