One of the CSUB staff members who participated in the pilot was Senior Budget Analyst Chrystal Guinn. Guinn said she decided to sign up because the `Runner Scholars Mentor Program was a great opportunity to interact directly with students.
“With my position in the Budget Department, I don’t often have direct contact with our students. I felt that being a mentor would give me the opportunity to impact student lives in a direct and meaningful way,” she said. “It’s really important for students to be able to put a face to the people who are willing to help them. Having that open line of communication is really important.”
Guinn was assigned six mentees last semester. She helped one student who needed tutoring and was able to set up tutoring sessions with the student’s adviser.
Another student was concerned about the state of her grades, so Guinn helped her develop a plan to receive counseling and retake some of her classes.
“There are so many barriers that our students face, and we really have the resources here to help them get through those barriers,” she said. “It’s just a matter of letting them know that there is help out there and that this is how you can reach out and ask for that help.”
Guinn said she still has a lot to learn herself about how the university operates for her to best be able to help her mentees.
“I’m pretty new to higher education, so there’s a lot to learn to be educated and understand all of the things our students could come up against,” she said.
However, Guinn is excited for the chance to improve as a mentor this fall, as she said the program has been a great experience for her so far.
“It has added more meaning to my position here at CSUB. This has solidified that I made the right decision to join this organization,” she said. “It fills my soul to be able to help students who look a lot like me when I attended CSUB. I can say ‘hey, I see you, I hear you, and what you’re saying matters to me.’ It really motivates me to come to work every day and learn more so that I have the information and knowledge to be able to help more people.”
One of the freshmen who participated in the spring pilot was Alma Cano, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Callahan was her mentor during the semester.
“I thought it would be a great opportunity not only to get to know more faculty at CSUB, but to improve my academics,” she said. “My first semester wasn’t great, and I felt like I didn’t have the support and resources I needed to succeed.”
Cano met with Callahan both through Zoom and in person and was able to get support in figuring out her class schedule as well as with personal issues, such as settling school bills.
“I noticed how she would go out of her way for me to reach certain goals I set for myself, whether it was educationally or personally with my life goals,” Cano said. “She always encouraged me to keep going and persevering. Even if it was something I wasn’t comfortable doing at first, she pushed me to get out of my comfort zone and try new things.”
Cano encourages all freshmen this fall to consider signing up for the `Runner Scholars Mentor Program.
“This mentorship program has given me a lot of support and resources that I can rely on and go to,” she said. “I feel like for incoming freshmen, it’s a really helpful resource to have, because you don’t know where anything is at, who is who or what they do here, what they have to offer and how they can help you. These mentors push you in a direction that will help you learn the ropes of the university.”
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