E-Board Responds: What’s Your Favorite Part of Being a Peer Advisor?

As you might expect, Peer Advisors come from all walks of life. Accordingly, everyone’s reason for joining the PA program is different. We asked our Executive Board to share why they chose to get involved!

Andrew: “I think my favorite part of peer advising is seeing the difference I can make firsthand in a new student’s college experience. When I entered William & Mary, I certainly had a lot of questions about my adjustment and how I could best prepare myself for the next four years, and my Peer Advisor knew the answer to pretty much every question I had for her. It was a huge help because it allowed me to focus on the intangibles of entering a new environment without having to worry about keeping track of the massive amount of information being thrown at me! I felt I owed it to incoming freshmen to pass on some of what I’d learned from her, and peer advising proved to be a great way of doing just that.”

Caroline: “I love being able to offer personable advice to incoming students, more so than they can receive from reading the requirements on paper. I feel that having someone aware of your particular situation really calms new students’ hesitations.”

Francesca: “Being a PA gives me the chance to help new students navigate the academic transition from high school to college, which is often quite tricky. Every time I am able to clarify something about the COLL curriculum or give advice on choosing between several interesting courses, I get to play a role in making coming to William & Mary for the first time a little less daunting for people in a position I was in not that long ago myself.”

Sarah: “My favorite part about being a PA is working with new students to help them understand the COLL curriculum and search for classes. I love organizing schedules and showing new students how to look up courses, even recommending some of my personal favorites!”

Surely we’ll find a few more reasons to join the PA team as we continue the process of selecting the Peer Advisors to assist the incoming Class of 2022! Stop by Swem 161 for a direct meeting with an advisor of your choice, and be sure to stay up to date on PA happenings by finding us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.