By Nana Amma Intsiful //
When students first arrive at Hood, they enter a new environment with unfamiliar people, expectations and values. Pillar Talks is a program designed to help new students learn about Hood and become part of the campus community.
Centered around Hood’s core values: Hope, Opportunity, Obligation, and Democracy, Pillar Talks are four group meetings that take place in the fall for first-year and transfer students. These meetings help students learn about the Hood community and build relationships with their peers.
Each meeting is co-facilitated by Peer Mentors, faculty, and staff members trained by the Vice President for Community and Inclusivity and the Director of Inclusive Excellence. The sessions take place in classrooms around the campus.
The conversations address things students may encounter: social situations and other things that would help them prepare if they were to meet those situations at school.
McCarroll said Pillar Talks helps students feel valued and connected to Hood. She said the program is also about building community and learning how to apply Hood’s values in the future.
The Obligation session stood out to McCarroll the most. In the meeting, they discussed how to get involved and how to speak up for other classmates. McCarroll saw that as an important value.
“As an older student I’ve learned these lessons, but I appreciate the value that schools want to impart on the students because they are things that you have to learn about,” McCarroll said.
For freshman Sydney Schlaud, Pillar Talks has served as a way for her to meet other students and learn about the resources available to help her succeed.
“[They] talked a lot about mental health resources and then also what you’re doing and how people affect the things that are happening,” Schlaud said.
As a freshman, Schlaud said it has been good for her so far. The sessions, to her, have been easy also made her feel more connected to the community.
“You get to talk to people, you get put into different groups each time so you get to know more people,” Schlaud said.
Democracy will be the final Pillar Talks session on Sept. 25.
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