Week 1

First off, everyone’s poems were awesome! We really have a creative and very thoughtful group of mentors! Anyways, our first class has made me realize that there are A LOT of different situations and challenges that we as peer mentors may have to face and must be prepared for! These situations may sometimes make us uncomfortable but that’s what this class is for. It may be uncomfortable or a little scary but overcoming these challenges really makes me want to try harder to get the task completed!  

I know that from the reading my main concern is career and lifestyle changes. When I first came to Iowa State University I had my mind set to have my major set as animal science. I, just like many other animal science students, have had the thought and idea of continuing my education onto veterinarian school but I am very afraid different variables especially the costs. Since I am not very certain of my career path I feel as if I will not be able to answer my mentees concerns with their career paths with full confidence.

Our in class activity was a great opportunity to start to think about the different questions and situations we may have to face when one of our mentees approaches us with a problem or concern. This activity made me realize that there are some questions that I as a peer mentor may not have thought would arise or may not be yet prepared for.

As we progress through this course we will continue to better prepare ourselves for peer mentoring and hopefully be able to answer these questions better. As we learn more through this course we will progressively strengthen and reinforce our leadership skills and professional abilities.

I am so excited to continue to learn more through this course and can’t wait to meet my mentees next semester!

See you all on Thursday!

About Me

Hello my name is Matt Schulte. I grew up on multi-livestock and crop farm in northeast Iowa near Dorchester where we raise calves from birth and finish them out for market. We also raised pigs in an outdoor setting until the fall of 2012 when my dad sold out of this part of his operation. We grow and produce our own alfalfa, corn and oats for our animal’s use and then sell what is excess. I went to a small school in Waukon, IA and have since continued my education at Iowa State University. Through high school I was very involved with different extracurricular activities such as FFA and other agricultural related activities.

I feel like I am at my best when I accomplish something of great difficulty and time consumption while continuing to stay ahead of my other commitments. This helps me to stay busy and continue to know that I have to be productive during my times when I don’t have class.

I enjoy being very active with different activities and meeting new people through these activities. I am currently serving as the executive position of Senior College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Council Representative for the Block & Bridle club I am involved with. This executive position has given me the opportunity to continue to meet new people in our club while also having the chance to meet more people throughout the CALS during our council meetings. I am also currently on the Iowa State University Collegiate Meats Judging team and really enjoy this! It is a very time consuming activity but it really makes me feel at home because it reminds me of my judging experiences through FFA CDE's.

I enjoy learning about many different things but I especially like learning about agriculture. I have been involved with the agriculture industry since I was very young and have continued to be involved through high school as well as into college. I am currently in a couple upper level courses in animal science and am enjoying these greatly. I am very interested in animal reproduction as well as physiology and hope to continue to be involved in courses related to these areas and hopefully aid a professor in some research about this.

My main goal as a peer mentor is to help the 2014 Hixson students successful complete the transition to Iowa State with as little stress and confusion as possible while also having someone there to answer any possible questions and encourage them to get involved on campus in a club or community activity. I know moving to Iowa State can be difficult because of all of the new people you meet and the sudden changes that happen so I want to help make this transition easier for the new Hixson students. I would like to also gain more personal skills such as being able to lead and teach younger people better.

I feel as if I will be the freshmen students’ and specifically my peer mentees go to person for any questions they have. I want to be able to answer any questions or direct them in the right direction to get their questions answered. I also want to be able to encourage them to be great leaders on campus while maintaining great academic records.


Talk to you all later!
Matt Schulte