As of Jan. 24, TRIO began hosting a weekly 5-7 p.m. Sunday peer scholarship group for TRIO students focused on accountability. Sophomore Jenni Orduna, the student leader of the group, stated that the group has been a resource that the TRIO staff has been trying to implement for a few terms now.
Executive Director of TRIO & McNair Programs, Risa Lopez, Academic Counselor Kendall Thompson, and Academic Counselor Brandi Grimes have all expressed interest in seeing this program’s success.
“From what I heard from Risa and Kendall, they tried to start this up a couple of years ago, but it didn’t work out,” Orduna said. “I guess they are trying to see if it catches enough hype this time around.”
Orduna stated that the program is not strictly limited to scholarships, but is also intended to serve as a space for accountability and to work as a helpful resource for TRIO students.
“The point of [the program] is to help students get support in finding and applying for scholarships, along with giving them a space to hold them accountable,” she said. “TRIO is for first-gen, low-income students. We didn’t have those resources to ask for help paying for things, so this group helps with the search [for scholarships].”
In preparation for leading the group, Orduna meets weekly with her TRIO advisor and sets aside time for research preparation.
“I have a weekly meeting with her [Brandi],” she said. “My first meeting with her was to clarify what day and time for the group, and she would give me an overview of what I needed to do. Because of that, we ended up opening it up for more than just scholarships, so like people can work on interview applications and other stuff.”
While there were a few hiccups along the planning process, Orduna said she has received multiple resources. She also states the possibility of the program returning next winter term.
“She [Brandi] had me looking for scholarships every week. She and Risa ordered two scholarship books and a book that had tips for the scholarship application process,” she said. “It’s only half of the term for one term, well, more like 80 percent of the term…but she [Brandi] said that if I did a good job with it and people seemed involved, she would have it again in the next winter term.”
Orduna also mentioned how she was chosen to lead this group.
“Brandi, my TRIO advisor, emailed me saying that she wanted to start a peer scholarship writing group, and if I would be interested in running it for an independent study half credit,” Orduna said. “Brandi loves me, she’s said that I seem to be pretty involved in stuff and keep on top of responsibilities.”
As with any program, issues have appeared, but Orduna tries her hardest to overcome them and provide quality to the students who come to the group.
“I’ve found a lot [that] the issue is that I need one that everyone [emphasis added] can apply to. So sometimes the requirements get too narrow and don’t fit the general audience,” Orduna said. “But I still try, and we have other resources like books or websites that people can look through.”
The peer scholarship group will continue through the end of the winter term and is open to all TRIO students of any year.
