Peer-Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) is a program designed to improve student performance and retention in historically challenging courses by recruiting students who previously performed exceptionally well in the class as peer mentors. As a PASS leader for four consecutive semesters for Introductory Biology, I host two sessions per week outside of lectures, reviewing content from lectures and coaching students to understand and retain information. I design and present my own supporting instructional material, activities, and practice exams to enhance students’ learning and study skills.

Orientation Peer Advisers, or OPAs, are student employees through the Office of Orientation and Transition to facilitate summer orientation and fall move-in for first-year students. I assisted first-year students with academic expectations, peer relationships, and personal adjustment to JMU through small and large group discussions, individual peer conversations, and educational sessions. I oversaw the development and training of over one hundred First yeaR Orientation Guide volunteers and served as their supervisor, including assisting in the recruitment, training, and evaluation during Fall Weeks of Welcome programming.

Three-year staff member of student leadership training programs for over two hundred students at the middle and high school levels including the Virginia Beach Leadership Workshop, Middle School Leadership Summit, and Student Activities Advisers Conference. My role included aiding and planning logistics of programming, writing instructional content, leading several project teams, facilitating participant discussion and mentoring new staff members.

As photography editor, I oversaw all photography used in print and online. I coordinated, delegated assignments to, and hired all staff photographers employed by The Breeze, and led a weekly photographers meeting. I worked with writers and section editors to edit all photos for upcoming stories and provided aesthetic input as to which photos should be used for publication. I worked with the art director to design the weekly print newspaper cover. For the online section, my role was to upload photo galleries and maintain the multimedia page of the website, as well as all photos published online. I also established a new weekly photography section, highlighting key photos from the week, and designed the spread of this section for each printed paper using Adobe Indesign and Photoshop. I oversaw our publication's transition to Sharepoint as our photo database, building a UI for section editors to easily find photos, and indexing all photos stored in our archives making them searchable by section, keyword, date, or subject.

Train and coach both new and existing team members. Implement training activities to help team members better understand restaurant procedures.

Observe students in a classroom setting under a cooperating teacher; plan, teach, and implement multiple lessons, and assist the cooperating teacher with classroom activities.