Leadership roles are an important part of the well-rounded student. Many of the most successful people I know on campus involved themselves in multiple leadership roles, each contributing vital knowledge and experience to their skillset. However, these roles can be amplified when the student not only participates in the experience but continues the experience over multiple years and works their way up within that role. My participation in the University 101 programs was very important to my time here at the University of South Carolina, as it likely has been for the many students that take on the same role. I found that by serving as a peer leader over 3 semesters, helping to teach a unique academic recovery section this spring, and working my way up to serve as a senior peer leader, I was able to set myself apart from the other students. I gained a vital experience I would not have gotten had I not continued in the program. My experience in University 101 programs has taught me that the continuation of leadership experiences over more than one semester is extremely beneficial in developing a student into a stronger leader. Continuing your involvement in a leadership role makes you a more experienced and better prepared leader.

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            The University 101 program is unique to many other leadership roles on campus due to the marriage of the leadership position to coursework within the classroom. 80% of first year students at the University of South Carolina take the University 101 course, either in the fall or spring semester. This course is taught by both an instructor and a peer leader, and most peer leaders took University 101 their freshman year. The ability for students to transition from enrolling in a course and completing coursework to co-instructing the same course is an experience that is not offered in many other roles. To quote the information listed on the University 101 programs website, “as a result of serving as a University 101 peer leader, all participating students will develop and articulate transferable skills appropriate to their personal and professional goals, enhance their communication and facilitation skills, identify personal leadership styles and strengths, and establish positive relationships with students and faculty and staff members”. My role serving as a University 101 peer leader most certainly reflected this. Over the 3 semesters I served this role, I not only developed the aforementioned skills, but found myself facing challenges and developing strengths in things that were weaknesses before the program- for example public speaking. Overall, I found my ability to work with students and encourage them to be their best to be the most valuable skill.

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 In addition to the unique experience of teaching the same course you taught, all first-time peer leaders are required to take EDLP 520: The Teacher as Manager. Paired with the leadership role, this course allows the students within it to reflect on their experience as a peer leader while learning crucial skills and advice from their classmates and instructor/senior peer leader. One assignment we had in EDLP 520 was to submit reflections of our ongoing experience during the beginning of the semester, midway through the semester, and at the end of the semester. I felt that the final assignment we had in the course, a letter to the next class of peer leaders, synthesized my experience in the course the best. In this letter, I reflect upon the skills that I learned through my peer leader role and how the EDLP 520 course impacted my success in a beneficial way. This within the classroom experience was vital to my support the first time I served as a U101 peer leader, and I took the information we learned with me as I continued my role and served a second and third semester. I found the course to be imperative for my success as it allowed me to brainstorm with a group of like-minded students and gave support from my instructor and senior peer leader. The cumulation of positive experiences in my first semester as a peer leader and the value I saw in the development of my own personal strengths and skills inspired me to return a second time. I knew that the program supported me in my growth and made me a stronger student and leader. I had even more positive experiences during my second semester, and this inspired me to take on the challenge of co-instructing a section for academic recovery. I felt confident that the skills and strengths I developed would serve me well and would continue to improve in this challenge a third time.

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            For the fall of 2021, my senior year, I applied and interviewed for a senior peer leader position. This role is one offered to just 9 students each year, and I was fortunate to be one of the students selected. Serving as a senior peer leader is different than being a University 101 peer leader because we are a support system for first time University 101 peer leaders. Paired with a staff member within University 101 Programs, I co-facilitated a group of 9 first time peer leaders in EDLP 520, the same course that I had taken just one year before. Although the outcomes of being a senior peer leader are very similar to those of a University 101 peer leader, I had the opportunity to practice my facilitation and leadership skills on a much higher level. Not only did I navigate another class of 19 freshman while taking on this role, I also supported all 9 of my students with their own U101 classes and offered insight, advice, and information on the experience. One activity my co-instructor, Kristy, and I offered to our students in EDLP 520 was a resume building workshop specific to the University 101 peer leader role. This activity, when paired with the reflections on their experience submitted by our students, helped to summarize the vast number of skills taught in EDLP 520 and practiced through the University 101 peer leader experience. Attached here is an example of the skills learned in the course that can be applied to resumes. Although I was now co-facilitating the course instead of being enrolled, EDLP 520 continued to be a fantastic support system to the University 101 peer leader experience beyond the classroom. I found that diving deeper into the first-year experience programs and serving in a role that not many other students are selected for helped me to further develop my skill set as a leader and instructor and set me apart from other students in leadership roles. A key piece of evidence for the benefits of my experience is one that is similar to the letter I wrote as a first-time peer leader: but this time, it was a letter to the next cohort of senior peer leaders. This artifact truly encapsulates the benefits I felt from serving as a senior peer leader and striving for bigger roles within the University 101 programs.

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            University 101 programs have served as a unique but imperative experience in my undergraduate career. My role as a peer leader over 3 semesters and as a senior peer leader paired with both taking and facilitating the within the classroom experience, EDLP 520, have proven to me that staying in the programs and striving for bigger leadership roles set me apart as a student. As a result of my continuation, I have learned and practiced important leadership roles in communication, interpersonal skills, teamwork, flexibility, and organizational skills. Although these skills are certainly learned and practiced with the typical experience of just one semester serving as a peer leader, I know that my choice to stay in the program for 2.5 years has vastly improved these skills and made me a stronger peer leader as a result. Continuing in these roles has made me career ready and taught me the importance of sticking to an experience to continue to develop one’s strengths and skills- something I will apply to my future career.