LaGuardia Peer Mentors and Student Leaders Participate in Professional Development Session to Enhance Student Support Services
LONG ISLAND CITY, NY (April 15, 2025) — Navigating through college can be overwhelming for students. Finding a major, applying for financial aid, locating support services, and finding affordable housing and meals are just a few of the many issues students ask peer mentors and student leaders for help.
On April 14, LaGuardia Success Mentors Program hosted a professional development workshop for college peer mentors and student leaders to help them better serve LaGuardia students with their needs.
Attendees included peer mentors and student leaders from Student Affairs (BMEC, Casa de las Américas, and Student Government Association) and Academic Affairs (Student Success Mentors, Peer Academic Advisors, and Student Technology Mentors).
Estefany Gonzaga, Student Success Mentor Program Coordinator, says this is the first time this type of workshop has been hosted at LaGuardia.
“This is the first time we have done a combined session of LAGCC Student Mentors and Student Leaders from LaGuardia from Academic Affairs and Student Affairs,” Gonzaga said. “I believe this type of professional development is important at LaGuardia, because it facilitates networking and collaboration among student mentors and leaders. The opportunity to connect with one another allows them to share experiences, exchange resources, and build a support system. In these uncertain times, it’s crucial to equip our peer mentors and student leaders with the tools and resources needed to effectively support the students they work with, ultimately fostering a more inclusive and supportive environment.”
David Brandt, Professional Development and Communication Coordinator for CTL Student Success Programs, says he hopes participants take away strategies and resources to support students with a range of needs and better understand challenges students face.
“As mentors, they play a vital role in the LaGuardia student experience,” he said. “Even if it’s as simple as connecting a student with a resource, campus service, or providing the space for them to open up about a challenge they are experiencing – their role matters.”
The professional development program included a performance by the Epic Theater Ensemble called “First Degree Burns,” centered on three friends who are navigating radically different post-secondary trajectories while wrestling with the burden of carrying family dreams on their backs. The play written and performed by an Epic-Alumni member, utilizes interviews with students, administrators, and counselors to theatricalize authentic emotional experiences, comically skewer college bureaucracy, and challenge the notion that institutional inertia is immutable.
After the performance, attendees had an opportunity to discuss many issues including stresses students may experience from family, employers, and day-to-day college life.
Other sessions in the training included Ways to Support Immigrant Students and Practicing Self-Care. In addition, participants reviewed scenarios involving student issues and situations to encourage broader discussion on ways to help students effectively. The program concluded with a gallery walk and a large group debrief discussion.
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LaGuardia Community College (LAGCC), a Hispanic-Serving Institution, located in Long Island City, Queens offers more than 50 associate degrees and academic certificates, and more than 65 continuing education programs to prepare New Yorkers for transfer to senior colleges and rewarding jobs and careers. An institution of the City University of New York (CUNY), the College reflects the legacy of our namesake, Fiorello H. LaGuardia, the former NYC mayor beloved for his advocacy of the underserved. Since 1971, LaGuardia’s academic programs and support services have advanced the socioeconomic mobility of students from Queens, NYC and beyond.
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