HCOP’s vision statement says that HCOP “endeavors to provide a multitude of program activities that cultivate the union of academics and interpersonal experiences within each student that will prove to be a vital tool along the journey to success.”
A key part of fulfilling the “interpersonal experiences” aspect of this vision is the HCOP mentoring program. When the 2021-2022 Health Careers Ambassador Program began back in November 2021, mentoring groups were formed. Each group consists of a health profession student in the “mentor” role, with about 5-6 student mentees who are a mix of high school and undergraduate level. This group mentoring model allows participants to form relationships with one another and gain valuable insight into the college and career process.
Mentoring groups meet twice each month via Zoom to discuss mentoring topics such as hidden curriculum, test anxiety, and asking for help. Over the course of the past 6 months, mentoring groups have logged over 50 hours of mentoring time.
On Saturday, April 2nd, HCOP started the session with a Mentor-Mentee Social. The social started with mentoring groups engaged in a friendly competition! Mentoring groups were given a riddle or brain teaser question and were given 3 minutes to deliberate with their groups in breakout rooms. Teams were awarded points based on how many questions they got correct.
The second part of the social was a chance for HCOP participants to learn more about their strengths. Prior to the session, students were given access to the Gallup CliftonStrengths for Students assessment, an assessment tool that provides individuals with their top 5 strengths and provides resources for how to use their strengths to fulfill their potential. Mr. Tyler Payne, strengths coach (and HCOP summer program faculty!) joined the Zoom to discuss what the results mean and how an individual’s strengths show in their “balcony” and “basement” moments.
HCOP’s mentoring program for the 2021-2022 Ambassador session is drawing to a close with the Awards and Recognition Ceremony this coming Saturday (April 30th). Mentoring groups will have one last chance to meet for a “mentoring farewell”. HCOP encourages all groups to discuss if - and how - they will choose to stay in contact after the session ends.
One of HCOP’s goals is to help students to build a network of like-minded peers to support one another on their journeys to success. These relationships can last a lifetime, and we hope someday when our students work together as colleagues, they can say, “we met at HCOP!”
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