A Rewarding Peer Mentor Experience

I’ve been a peer mentor for over one year for an individual who is on the autism spectrum. I believe it was an amazing experience for the both of us. To be honest, we were not mentor and mentee, but friends. We spent a lot of time doing different activities together such as trivia nights, bingo, dinners, and hanging out with other friends just to name a few.

The peer mentor/mentee relationship was an amazing experience for both of us.

Through our relationship, I believe we both gained a lot. We shared different experiences that taught us each important lessons. These included my better understanding of things I often overlooked relating to ableism, sexism, and racism. My mentee also taught me how to view the world through a perspective of a person who had a different outlook than me. Even though we sometimes disagreed, he showed me that there are great changes that the world needs to see relating to those issues.

We shared different experiences that taught us each important lessons.

I think that from me, My mentee learned more about laughing, silliness, and just generally how to sometimes let loose. Our relationship developed to a place where we both learn from each other and I look forward to continuing to develop our relationship in the upcoming year in Syracuse, New York.

Sarah Parker

Hi, my name is Sarah Parker. I am twenty one years old and from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I am currently attending Syracuse University majoring in Social Work, and am going into my senior year of undergraduate school pursuing my bachelors degree. I love animals, cooking, and hanging out with friends and family.  While attending Syracuse University, I participated in a very rewarding peer mentor experience, and my mentee and I learned a lot from each other.