We are always meeting student leaders who are going the extra mile to make others feel welcome and build community culture on their campuses. We realized that one great way to learn from each other is to spotlight different students who have made an impact on the lives of their fellow students.
Meet Jordyn Joens, a student at Concordia University. She’s a Marketing major, the President of the Business Club and a Peer Advisor on campus. We asked her about the things she loves on campus and how she gets others involved.
What was the first moment you felt like you belonged at your school?
The moment I first felt engaged at Concordia was when I was drawn out to attend a football game by my peer advisor at the time. I was a freshmen and I had yet to attend any sporting events on campus, but my peer advisor was gathering all the new students from my class to get us involved on campus. At first, I was hesitant because my roommate could not attend, but when I saw how much fun the upperclassmen looked like they were having, I knew I wanted to be part of their group too. My peer advisor made it nonthreatening to belong to her group and to the school in general.
Have you ever helped someone go from a neutral to engaged?
When I first started mentoring, I made the mistake of throwing so many events at the students that in the end, I made it more difficult for them to get involved. I was so eager to get them engaged that I overshadowed how simple finding a connection to the university is. Since then I have helped students go from a neutral to an engaged perspective by offering to attend events with them if they are afraid to go alone or connecting them with a leader than may have similar passions.
What’s one time on campus you went from a meh to a hmm?
I remember going from a meh to hmm perspective for an event called the Hmong Secret War simulation. I had seen posters about the event, but what changed my engagement was seeing students running across the large outdoor area in the middle of our campus. It is a perfect example of Tom’s concept of confusing the student population enough to spark conversation about an event. The overall positive reaction had me curious enough about what I saw to learn more about those putting the event together.
Have you ever helped a student get involved like Jordyn did?
