Ryleigh Rawson

Final Reflection

My name is Ryleigh Rawson, and I am a senior in the Honors College studying public

health. I plan to attend medical school after I graduate from UofSC in the spring. I grew up at the

beach in New Jersey, which was a wonderful experience and I’m grateful for the home that I

have. I chose to come to Carolina because I wanted to go somewhere further from home to get a

new experience, I wanted a big school, and I knew that I would get good scholarship money

while also getting a good education. Becoming a Peer Leader for U101 was something I had

wanted to do during my time at UofSC because it allowed me to use the experiences and

knowledge I’ve acquired over the years to shape a similar successful experience for someone

else. Getting to know the younger classes and listen to their struggles and supply them with the

resources they need to be successful seemed so rewarding, fun, and exciting, and it has definitely

lived up to those expectations.

This experience has not been what I’ve expected but it has nonetheless been something

that is so valuable to me. I taught a section that was entirely online because my co-instructor was

nervous to teach in person during the pandemic. This section was all for students in the Arnold

School of Public Health as well. A lot of my students were still at home due to the pandemic as

well, which made it challenging to engage my students in activities that exposed them to things

on campus and around Columbia. It was also harder to develop stronger relationships with them

because I could only see them over video chat, and they could only see each other the same way.

However, we still managed to form different kinds of bonds with each other and provide the

students with valuable knowledge. We made it a point to spend a good amount of time on check-

in activities so the students could feel engaged and connected to us and each other. We tried to
utilize break out rooms and group activities to make sure that they had some time to connect with

each other without us there. We made it a huge point to do a lot of group discussions over the big

topics we covered. We also wanted to hear from them as much as possible, so we asked for

feedback constantly and adjusted our syllabus to their needs, which included incorporating

lectures on research, employment, implicit biases, stress relief, and a whole day of just fun

check-in questions. We made ourselves constantly available to them and listened as needed and

worked to solve any issues with them. It’s been such a joy to watch them grow in spite of such a

bad situation, and they’ve inspired us just as much as we’ve inspired them.

This lends itself to what I think are some of the best joys of the semester. I loved that we

were able to work together as a class to adapt to the situation and be flexible enough to make a

class that is meant to be in-person still successful online. We tried to make them feel like their

opinions and thoughts also mattered, which they felt comfortable with very quickly. They came

out of their shells on Zoom and participated in every discussion and check-in with enthusiasm

and creativity, without having to be prompted. They became comfortable coming to me with any

issues they were having. All of their feedback has told us that we have done a great job with the

course and that it’s their favorite class. Most importantly, they have been so happy with our

discussions and feel like they’re learning a lot of valuable information. They have said that my

examples and presence in the classroom are always helpful and enjoyable. I’ve learned how

important it is to be open-minded, an active listener, and to maintain my confidence in what I

know. As a piece of advice to get here, always let yourself be vulnerable with your students –

they’ll appreciate it more than you think and will feel comfortable opening up as well. It makes

the space as safe as possible and enhances the trust you’ll all feel for each other to make the

experience the best that it can be. I’ve also learned how truly important and valuable it is to be
flexible and ready to adapt to new situations in leadership, because it inspires those you lead to

take change in stride as well. I hope that next year’s peer leaders don’t have to deal with the

pandemic anymore, but I do hope that they realize that other obstacles will come up that will

impact their experience, but they shouldn’t let it get them down. Keep your heads up, let yourself

take a moment to feel sad if things are hard, and then get back to a plan of action. And, always

take care of yourself, otherwise adaptability is hard!

My relationship with my co-instructor has also been valuable to me. We’ve both learned

a lot about the importance of honesty and open-communication. We’d talk every day after class

about how the class went, how we can prepare for the next one, and any necessary changes that

would benefit them for the time. We also discussed things that were happening in our own lives

and how each of us was feeling to enhance our relationship and trust in each other. Ashley

always valued my feedback and was up front about giving me my own feedback. We worked so

well together as a team and I’m so grateful that I had someone as open, kind-hearted, and easy to

work with as she was. It’s so important to believe in yourself and that you’re here for a reason –

to be someone the students can look up to and that your co-instructor can rely on. To give and

take advice as needed is one of the most important aspects to achieving these goals.

I think one of the biggest ways I’ve changed is the ability to be adaptable. Prior to this

class, I would always get stressed about things that don’t turn out as I had planned or hoped. It

would upset me way more than necessary and I struggled to figure out the best way to make

things work after they’ve failed. Starting off with such a different experience was difficult, but

through a lot of hard work and reflection, I became comfortable with the change and little by

little worked to make it the best that I could. This is one of the goals I set for myself in the

semester – to be more adaptable and to make the best of the situation, and I’m proud of myself
for getting to that point. I also focused a lot this semester on my ability to be authoritative while

also being relatable. I wanted the students to feel comfortable coming to me with anything they

needed and to be able to share the truth about things happening in their lives, but I also didn’t

want them to see me as their friend. I felt like I achieved this as well, as they felt like they could

share things with me but still respected that I was older and more experienced than them, and

that I was a leader figure to them. This was an additional goal for myself. I just tried to maintain

the attitude of someone who was in charge and also be friendly, funny, and positive while talking

with them and reflecting on their lives as well as my own. I would usually call them out if they

had ever gone too far, like telling me about experiences in 5 Points. Finally, I learned the value

of communication. I had spent a lot of time in my life being afraid to share how I felt out of fear

of seeming wrong or stupid, but having Ashley as a co-instructor who valued communication a

lot, made me more comfortable expressing myself when I had something to say. Over time, I

would offer my insights and ideas on our calls after class, and she claims that is one of my best

attributes at this point. This was also a goal I had set for myself in the beginning of the semester

– being able to maintain open and constant communication. I also learned how to be better with

taking constructive criticism back as well, letting myself know more over time that this is just a

chance to be better. I’ve learned that I can do anything I want to so long as I have good support

around me, take care of myself, and remain confident in my strengths and abilities.

These, I believe, are some important skills that I have developed from this experience. I

think that they are incredibly important to other walks of life. I plan to go to medical school, and

I know that in order to be successful, it’s important to maintain open and honest communication

with my professors, mentors, and peers while I’m there. I will have to be good at getting

constructive criticism and speaking up when I need to. In any relationship in life, whether it be
friends or family or significant others, it’s also important to always be honest with each other.

Hiding things or not speaking up or not taking advice well will only make the relationship tense

and unsuccessful. I also think that my confidence as someone who can be authoritative while

also a relatable is important to being a doctor – patients need to be able to trust me and confide in

me the same way my students have, but I also will have to make sure that they respect me and

listen to me. It’s also important to be adaptable in any walk of life – so many things come at us

every day that we don’t expect, and it’s so normal to have things not go according to plan, so we

have to all make sure that we don’t let these things get us down. We have to make sure that we

can accept the things out of our control and make the best of them.

My time in EDLP was very helpful to this experience as a Peer Leader. It was nice to

have a group of people going through the same things as me help with activity ideas and ways to

get through to the students when they didn’t want to open up. It’s generally hard for me to ask

for help because I’m used to being independent, but I loved having an open and safe space to

discuss any struggles and ideas, and to be met with sympathy, strength, and experience. I can

translate this to other parts of my life because, when things get tough for me personally, I know

now that the people I surround myself with will always be willing and able to help. I learned to

value other people’s experiences and wisdom within this class instead of just brushing it off and

saying they don’t understand. There were many times where the class made me laugh and made

me think, and it taught me to be a better peer leader, but it most importantly taught me to engage

openly with the people around me because their experiences and knowledge can be more helpful

than I thought.