Although there are so many friendly and welcoming staff and faculty at AUS, sometimes you just want to hear from an older student. Our peer support students on campus are like big brothers and sisters, eager to help you through this transition. This episode covers everything from how to connect with these awesome student leaders in your first few weeks to preparing to be a mentor yourself!
To book an appointment with a peer advisor, call: 06 515 2180
Erica: You’re listening to FYE Chats, an AUS podcast, where we have candid conversations with fellow AUSers who want to see you thrive during your first year. Today, we’re chatting with two incredible students who work as peer supports on campus. They remember what it’s like to be in your shoes and are super passionate about helping you walk through this transition.
Welcome to the show, Ahmed and Aisha.
Ahmed Hello ! It's great to be here , i'm so excited
Aisha: Thank you so much for having us!
Erica: We’re so excited to hear from you today.
Erica:To start, will you tell us a little bit about your role as a peer support?
Ahmed - Sure! So for the last two years I have been working with the Academic Support Center as the Engineering Peer Advisor, its a role that has allowed me to connect with students from all standings and share insights on how to succeed at AUS.
Erica: It sounds like you have a lot of fun in the role- but I’m sure our listeners are wondering- Is this a paid position?
Ahmed - Yep! It is paid on an hourly basis.
Aisha- Oh, wow Ahmed, that's amazing! I was selected as a peer leader for the previous two semesters where now I have given been given an opportunity to become a team leader and in both cases, you end up getting paid per semester for helping students in transitioning smoothly from school to university.
Erica: These are such cool opportunities- you get paid to build friendships and give advice to other students. I’d say that a pretty sweet deal. Having you around is like having a big brother or sister on campus! How can first-years connect with you?
Aisha - So, every first-year student gets their own peer leader where their peer leaders host sessions every day for them in the welcoming week which happens a week before the semester begins. You can also communicate with your peer leader through emails as your peer leader will be emailing you during the welcoming week
Erica: Yes! Peer Advisors are some of the first students you’ll connect with, even before orientation! Now, connecting with you is a little different, right Ahmed?
Ahmed - So the best way to connect with me would be to book in a peer advising session. Details regarding how you can do this, including the timings available are updated at the start of the semester on the AUS website.
Erica:That’s right! I’ll link this information in our show notes. Peer advisors are available starting around week 3 of the semester.
Erica: Of course, there are a lot of different concerns and questions that come up during a student’s first-year. When would you suggest that a peer support might be a more helpful resource than even maybe a faculty or staff member?
Aisha
Peer support is very useful when it comes to talking to someone about how difficult it is to transition from school to university. During the first week of university, as it's a whole new experience, for the first year students, they want someone their age to be able to talk to and guide them. I believe this is when peer support is extremely important and useful. From my experience, I've seen that students want to communicate openly to someone who's been through exactly what they’re going through and as peer leaders we help you overcome the challenges you face during this phase, as not too long ago we were in the exact same boat.
Ahmed - I think Aisha really covered most of the points there! But like she said, meeting a peer support can be very helpful because they can share very relatable ‘student oriented’ tips and tricks.
Erica: What are a few topics or questions that come up frequently when chatting with first-years?
Ahmed I think the number one topic that always comes up is definitely time management, and I think that's great because it really is one of the most important skills to master at university. For example, I remember during my first semester I was really struggling to meet the many deadlines for my assignments and it was getting quite overwhelming. Eventually, I met a Peer Advisor and told them how I felt, the conversation was extremely useful because being a more experienced student than myself, the Peer Support was able to give me useful tips that he himself used to get past similar situations in his time as a Freshmen, tips that I still use till today.
Aisha Right, time management is so important, especially at AUS where we are offered so many different activities and clubs that we can be a part of. I am so glad you got the help you needed Ahmed, I wish i was aware of peer advising sessions in my first semester as i was in a very similar situation.
Erica: Now, I’ll bet we have quite a few high achievers listening and thinking “That sounds fun! I’d like to do that too.” What was the process for you to become leaders on campus?
Ahmed - For me it was all about exploring everything there was available at AUS and I think the best way to do this is to speak to older students and closely follow AUS social media accounts. Sooner or later an opportunity will definitely arise.
Aisha I completely agree with Ahmed, keeping up with AUS social media is so important in order to make sure that you know exactly when an opportunity arises. You should also keep up with your emails because when a peer leader opportunity opens up they usually email students to apply and that's how I applied.
Erica: Yes! Following social media and reading your emails is huge. I want to emphasize this again- please check your email every day, as if this were your full time job! Because...it really is!
Erica: What would you recommend first-years do now, if this is something they are interested in?
Ahmed - Reiterating what I mentioned earlier, I think the best place to start is to explore all the different opportunities AUS offers, knowing what's available allows you to keep your options open and identify what opportunity may suit you best. For example, actively taking part in AUS social events, joining clubs and even reaching out to students who work at the job itself, are all things that can help you connect with the correct people to help you discover the on-campus job that you think suits you best!
Aisha - In order to be a peer leader, you need to be able to fully support the first year students, thats why I believe that anyone who's interested in becoming a peer leader in the future should try to understand and learn about every aspect of AUS in order to assist the new students better.
Erica: I LOVE this advice. If you want to be a leader and a mentor, you’ll need to know about all that AUS has to offer! I’m going to give a little plug for our department here- but we work really hard to help connect students with all the happenings of AUS. During our first week, the week of welcome, I host workshops about AUS lingo and resources. These are a great place to start.
Ahmed: Ohh the workshops ! They were so helpful!
Erica: I have a little bit more of a lighthearted question next. We are all hoping to return to campus soon- and when we do, I’ll bet most people will be spotted in the student center. For our newest first-years, what is the best food you’ve had on Ahmed - The fresh pastries at the Co-op bakery! I love them
Erica: Mmmm. I don’t even think I’ve tried those yet- but I do love the Co-op. What about you, Aisha?
Aisha Oh my God can we just skip this question? I'm getting hungry already, I think Co-op bakery is amazing but the egg noodles and the cakes from breakpoint just hit different. I think that's what I miss most about aus and as soon as we return back I am having that every. Single. day.
Erica: Egg noodles every day?? Surely you’ll have to take a break for the butter chicken though, am I right? Hopefully this is getting students excited.
Aisha- honestly, anything from breakpoint is just divine!
Erica: Lastly, we ask all of our guests: What is one piece of advice you’d like to share with our first-years?
Ahmed - Try to set yourself high goals and get off to a good start, that momentum is something you can definitely carry forward with you until you graduate.
Aisha- I think my main advice would be to just relax a bit, everyone says that your university life is going to be the best time of your life, so why be stressed throughout it? The first year of university Is a year like no other, its the start of a new chapter of your life, so you gotta try to live it, try to feel it and try to enjoy it and make some amazing memories and friends.
Erica: Setting high goals and enjoying the in between moments. Thanks for sharing those suggestions and enjoying us for the show!
Aisha Hope our advices help the the new students, thank you for letting us be a part of this!
Ahmed - Thank you so much for having us!
Erica::
I hope you enjoyed chatting with Ahmed and Aisha today. Hopefully, you’ll be meeting them on campus soon! Be sure to follow us @ausfye for more updates. Thanks so much for listening to our show. See you next time, on FYE Chats.