QUEST / LEAP
QUEST, also called LEAP, is a first-year student program to get a jumpstart in college that includes leadership development, self-discovery, and lifelong relationships. This program has such an impact on my life that after completing it my first year, I returned the next three years as a first year (QUEST 2019-2020), second year (QUEST 2020-2021), and Senior Peer Mentor (LEAP 2021-2022). On top of the weeks of training each year, during my first year of Peer Mentoring I was able to attend the LEAD 365 conference.
QUEST 2018-19
Participating in QUEST my first year at UD was one of the best decisions I ever made. This program really brought me outside of my comfort zone, gave me more self confidence going into the start of a new phase of my life, gave me a great Peer Mentor and team (The Exponents), and provided me with some of my best friends and roommates. It also taught me so much about leadership and left me wanting to learn more. This program alone encouraged me to apply to be a Peer Mentor and continue through the tiers of BHLP.
QUEST 2019-20
My first year as a Peer Mentor was a wonderful experience and I wouldn't change it for the world. My amazing team of first year students (The Torminators) were so eager to get started at UD and truly embraced everything the program was meant to do. As a Peer Mentor, I helped lead the first week of events, promoted team bonding, taught leadership lessons, and facilitated conversations. By the end of the first week, we truly were a team, and by the end of the year we all had created bonds that will last a lifetime. To this day, my team and I still meet up each semester to catch up. The experience was beyond anything I ever expected. The very first time someone came to me to share something really personal, I felt honored to be able to be there for each and everyone one of them and loved that they trusted me enough to make me the first person they came to in a time of need or even to share something exciting that happened.Â
This role has a huge impact on how I acted in other roles on campus. I became more empathetic and understanding to everyone's situations and ready to lend an ear to anyone in need. That was definitely the biggest thing I learned, the importance of just being there for someone and embracing silence. It also grew my self confidence in my ability to be that supporting figure for someone. After having addressed and supported students through very severe and life changing events, I feel prepared to handle any situation life throws at me.
As a first year Peer Mentor, I had the pleasure of attending LEAD 365, a national leadership conference. This conference put me outside of my comfort zone, got me engaged with other leaders around the country, and taught me more about myself and leadership.
QUEST 2020-21
Going into QUEST as a second year Peer Mentor was very different from my first. I already had the tools and confidence to be a Peer Mentor, so I was able to be a good model for the new Peer Mentors. However, this year forced me to become very adaptive and flexible as we didn't know what the future held. The program was run almost entirely virtually which was a new experience and came with its own challenges. I had to figure out what works and doesn't work through a camera to hit all the goals of the program. This year, I was given an all girl group team that named themselves the Bad Girl Gang, or BGGs for short.Â
This year taught me the importance of persistence and face to face conversations. It was quite difficult to create bonds among the team over zoom and zoom itself led to a lot more problems that were presented that I had never had to deal with before. This was also the first year that really tested my skills as a Peer Mentor, especially when presented with very severe problems that I had to address through screen. I felt very separated from my students and had to find ways to be there for them emotionally without the typical things I would do in person. While I struggled with this in the beginning, I eventually found my groove and those skills and techniques were very useful going into a whole new style of living.
QUEST 2021-22
Transitioning from a Peer Mentor with my own team of first year students to a Senior Peer Mentor doing more background tasks was a lot more difficult than I expected. I found myself really missing that close connection to the students. I did find that in the few opportunities I had to meet the students participating in LEAP, I was able to create meaningful connections and still be there to support them. However, being able to support the Peer Mentors through things that they couldn't grasp entirely was a great experience. I was able to watch each of them grow and build bonds with their teams from the outside. Especially after being fully online for a while, I was just grateful to have an in person experience and get to know this team of Peer Mentors on a more personal level.
Within the role of Senior Peer Mentor, I was forced to become more flexible and work way outside of my comfort zone. I am used to structure and following very specific steps that I outline for myself, but here I was part of a team and really had to put the program before anything. The biggest thing I took away from this experience is the importance of remembering why you are doing something and keeping yourself motivated to that goal. I also began to rely more on my team to get things done and that trust is very important to be successful, which is something I never fully had to embrace as much in my three years prior at UD.
