Week 5

This week in class we discussed the difference between advice, and interpersonal communication. I really liked the topic because I can for see a lot of use for both advice and interpersonal communication with our role as peer mentors, and Wednesday's class helped me to better distinguish between the two. 
      As a mentor I expect to answer a lot of questions with advice in order to make the smoothest transition for my Hixson students, but if there's as opportunity for interpersonal communication I'll try my best to make sure the students are ultimately making their own decisions, because making your own decisions for yourself is part of growing up. The students are the ones who have to live with the results of their decisions, not me. If I can offer some personal insight that can help one of my students come to their best informed decision, then by all means I'll give my two cents worth. 
       Overall this week's topic for me was simple to understand, but ultimately very important. Effective peer mentors understand when to use interpersonal communication for a student to come to their own decision, and when it's most appropriate to simply give advice. Dylan and Lauren did a real nice and effective job with this topic, and it seemed like everybody walked out of class Wednesday feeling confident  and comfortable with the lesson.