Thesis student and residential advisor (RA) for the thesis LLC in Dort and Gold Arantxa Prince began organizing a peer-led support group for thesis students in the middle of fall semester in collaboration with housing, the Student Success Center (SSC) and the Center for Counseling and Wellness (CWC). Thesis Unite, co-facilitated by Prince and thesis student Annabelle Wilson, launched this spring covering topics ranging from self-care to writing tips directed by and for thesising novos.
While Prince was planning out the program, she was advised to not facilitate the group solo. She reached out to the SSC for any student success coaches that would be interested in co-facilitating.
“That’s how we found Annabelle,” Prince remarked. “She immediately came on board.”
“Thesis students are a hard demographic to reach,” Prince continued. “I know it is hard for me to show up to school events at times.”
Prince and Wilson designed the support group to be relaxed and friendly. There has been a consistent turnout of four to five students. The group meets every Thursday at 6 p.m. on Zoom with snacks available for pickup at the RA resource room every week.
The first 30 minutes are delegated especially to students to openly chat and decompress before guest speakers come in. In previous meetings, Assistant Director of Student Activities and Campus Engagement (SA[U]CE) Kaylie Stokes came in to discuss how to deal with procrastination. Director of the Writing Resource Center Dr. Jennifer Wells came in to share writing tips as well.
Next week Thesis Unite will start covering the editing process as more and more thesis students wrap up their work.