For nearly two decades, Schreyer Honors College’s annual orientation program, SHO TIME, has been the signature event that helped set Scholars up for success. The two-day experience serves nearly 700 new students every year, combined between Penn State students entering Schreyer in their first, second or third year.
While SHO TIME tends to look a little bit different every year, the constant has always been the students.
“We’ve always had SHO TIME mentors. The model has changed over the years, but the backbone of SHO TIME has always been our student leaders because SHO TIME is really about building that sense of belonging while learning about the expectations and traditions of being a Scholar,” said Donna Meyer, director of student programs. Donna has been a part of SHO TIME since the first program in 2006.
“SHO TIME creates that smooth transition from high school, especially for our high-achieving students. We’re giving them what they need to be successful, reducing feelings of isolation, and creating an environment where they can thrive.”
When Dean Mather began his tenure at the College in fall 2021, he had a vision for building the Schreyer community and fostering the sense of belonging beyond the initial orientation. A critical piece of that was developing our New Scholar Experience (NSE), which would support students well beyond their first days in Schreyer.
The College’s staff worked steadily over two years to craft the plan, framework and infrastructure needed to bring the New Scholar Experience to life. Two critical elements that helped propel the work forward were a $2.3 million gift from the William A. and Joan Schreyer Foundation to create the Schreyer Family New Scholar Experience Endowment, and the addition of Lisa Dierks to the College staff as NSE coordinator.
The gift provided resources so that the NSE could begin with New Student Orientation in the summer and last all the way through the fall semester via a one-credit course called Foundations of Scholar Success (LA-197). Dierks, meanwhile, gave the College a dedicated staff member who could work alongside Meyer and Lynette Yarger, associate dean for equity and inclusion, to execute the NSE and evaluate its performance.
“I think that everything that’s been done to create and support the New Scholar Experience shows how the College lives out its commitment to supporting Scholar success,” said Dierks. “The College does a great job of broadening what success means for its students. It’s not just about thriving in an academic setting, it’s their overall wellness as human beings.”
Yarger noted that years of extensive work went into developing the best possible understanding of how this new program could meet the Scholars’ individual needs while helping to build a close-knit community. In the summer of 2023, the NSE team attended the Summer Institute on Equity in the Academic Experience, a national program that helped bring the final vision of the program into focus.
“The institute gave our team the time and space to develop essential elements of the project plan, particularly the LA-197 course,” Yarger said. “We worked with faculty to create workshops to prepare our peer educators to lead classes, working with instructional designers on the curriculum, and crafting a communication and marketing plan to encourage students to enroll in the course.”
The peer educators Yarger referenced, along with the corresponding peer leaders, are the NSE’s driving force.
Scholars must apply for these roles and once accepted into the program, the peer leaders administer a training program to prepare the peer educators to take on their crucial work in SHO TIME and LA-197. More than 60 credentialed peer educators are responsible for serving as trusted friends, mentors and advocates for all new Scholars.
During SHO TIME, the peer educators introduce the new Scholars to the College’s academic requirements, mission, vision and values, community, student life, resources and more. After that first weekend on campus, first-year Scholars transition into LA-197, the semester-long, one-credit course that is taught by peer educators. The educators help instill foundational skills in their fellow Scholars through engaging discussions, reflection activities and group outings. The coursework helps the students explore University resources, out-of-classroom learning opportunities, and insider tips for navigating the Honors College.
With a year in her role completed, Dierks has seen how all the NSE’s programming works together to benefit students who aren’t always seen as needing support on that level. She understands how Schreyer Scholars are typically seen as high-achieving high school and (for second- and third-year Schreyer admits) college students who succeed in all aspects of their life. However, academic success doesn’t always paint the entire picture of how a student is handling life at Schreyer.
“I think there certainly is a risk that Scholars’ overall wellness could be overlooked. We also risk assuming that the things that allowed them to achieve so much in high school are the same things that will allow them to be successful in college,” Dierks said. “We know that there’s an adjustment there, no matter who you are.
“In [the college environment] new students lose that person checking up on them to make sure they’re showering, eating and sleeping properly, doing laundry at least once a month and other smaller things,” she continued. “It’s critical that we have a space for them to make sure they feel that they’re being taken care of. In LA-197, they have a space where they can hear from other students who might be struggling and understand that they’re not alone and it’s OK to feel the way they do.”
Sakshi Jain, a rising second-year Scholar and engineering pre-major, was one of those new Scholars in fall 2023 who relied heavily on the NSE to help her transition to college life. Hailing from Downington, Pa., Jain graduated in a class of about 200 students and was feeling somewhat nervous about joining a student body of over 45,000 at University Park. She also needed the SHO TIME and LA-197 portions of the NSE to help her adjust because she missed New Student Orientation due to a conflict with her high school graduation.
“When I think about what I needed to feel ready for the Schreyer experience, it was the support of people around me who could assure me that everything was going to be OK and help me if I had questions,” Jain said. “I was away from my family and my biggest supporters for the first time, and it was nerve wracking to think about taking things on truly by myself.”
Upon moving to University Park, though, Jain quickly realized that she was far from alone in taking on the challenges of adjusting to college life. Her SHO TIME experience started things off on the right foot by going far beyond what she anticipated.
“I had no expectation that SHO TIME or LA-197 would offer so much support from my peers. Going into it, I thought SHO TIME would be kind of boring and have typical ice breaker activities,” she said. “But my peer educators from SHO TIME would wave to me when they saw me walking to class or if there was time, we’d stop and have a chat to check in. The connection I built with my peer educators gave me amazing support from virtually the second I stepped on campus.”
Maddie Shanafelt, a political science major, was also a first-year Scholar who took part in last year’s inaugural New Scholar Experience, from her Accepted Student Program all the way through LA-197 during her first semester. She felt like SHO TIME set her up well for managing her time and finding a balance between participating in clubs and focusing on academics. It was during her weekly LA-197 classes, though, that she really began to notice the value of the peer educators.
“I felt like [peer educators leading the lessons] it made everyone in the class willing to be more vulnerable because there was no ‘real adult,’” Shanafelt said. “Because it was all Schreyer students, I felt like I could talk to them more freely than I could to a professor or advisor.”
Honors College staff intended for that type of open, honest atmosphere to help address Scholars’ needs. Dierks explained how they wanted LA-197 to be a place where new-to-Schreyer students could discuss the struggles they face in adjusting to Penn State and the Honors College.
“I think that a lot of our students arrive at our College, maybe having been at or near the top of their class, and realize they’re surrounded by everyone else who was top of their class,” Dierks said. “They’re no longer standing out in the ways that they used to, so imposter syndrome is one of those things that we hear about with our Scholars. The course provides space for conversations to happen that can help them feel like they belong, that they can overcome a failed exam or deal with an especially difficult course.”
Yarger, who has 20 years of experience teaching first-year seminars and introductory courses in Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology, took the lead on designing the LA-197 course and evaluating its performance through its inaugural offering. She noted that several valuable insights were gained from the Scholars’ survey responses.
“We expected some of what the students reported at the start of the course such as high levels of stress, difficulty sleeping, homesickness and various academic challenges as a result. One unexpected finding was that students expressed difficulty finding and eating healthy food,” Yarger said. “At the end of the course, students noted that the relationships they formed in the class helped with many of those issues, and our peer educators saw growth in their self-confidence and leadership abilities.”
Meyer noted that from her years of working with incoming Scholars, she really noticed a change in what students needed in the way of support after COVID.
“We recognized the need to provide more emotional support, letting them know that it’s OK to fail and it’s OK not to be OK,” Meyer said. “That’s where LA 197 plays a huge role. The peer educators are there, helping new Scholars learn about themselves and why they are here. That’s a big change in the last couple years.”
Meyer noted that to make sure the staff and educators were supporting new Scholars in the best way possible, the College collaborated with many University partners. They also spent a lot of time talking to students.
“We don’t know what the students’ needs are unless we ask,” Meyer said. We’re doing much more assessment, tracking, and surveying now. We’re being very intentional and thoughtful about understanding the students’ needs and meeting the students where they are.”
With this additional feedback and some of their own observations, Yarger, Dierks and two peer educators revised LA-197’s curriculum for its second year. The improvements they’ve implemented include the use of a free e-textbook, a deeper focus on how to connect with and live out Schreyer’s mission and values, weekly announcements of recommended campus events and helping peer educators to request workshops from experts around campus.
They have also moved up the peer educator and peer leader hiring timeline to include out-of-state and international students, and removed all evening sections of the course.
This year’s class of incoming Scholars will also enjoy the benefit of working with peer educators and peer leaders who have been through the NSE themselves. Shanafelt and Jain are two such Scholars who successfully applied to serve in peer educator roles in their second year on campus. Each mentioned that they were inspired by the kindness and approachability shown to them during their earliest days on campus and wanted to offer the same to this year’s new Scholars. They’re also aware that they are well positioned to grow and develop thanks to their new roles.
“I think working as a peer educator is going to teach me a lot about being a leader,” said Shanafelt. “I know how hard it can be for first-years to talk with new people and come out of their shells. I’m looking forward to taking on the challenge of developing my skills to help them do that, and I’m prepared for it.
“I’m also looking forward to learning about the new Scholars’ backgrounds and individual experiences. It’s exciting to get to lead students who come from diverse backgrounds,” Shanafelt continued.
For Jain, she understands the likelihood that of the new Scholars she works with, several could share her experience with being away from home for the first time.
“I’ll be glad to get more comfortable with sharing my own story and struggles so they can learn from it,” she said. “I can show them that it’s OK if something goes wrong and that there are people around who genuinely care about them.
“It’s important to me to be that person for other incoming students because I know how hard it can be to transition away from your friends and family who are hours away in your hometown. They can come to me if they have questions or are struggling with something.”
Dierks feels especially encouraged by Scholars like Jain and Shanafelt stepping out of their comfort zones and into leadership roles that are more in-depth than what they’d previously experienced. While many Scholars arrive at Penn State with experience captaining teams or leading high school clubs, peer educator and peer leader roles put them in a place where they must grow to succeed.
“Being in front of a group of people and talking, having them all stare at you and looking to you for instruction can be really challenging for people in general, even for adults,” said Dierks. “Then, we have our second-year students, who we want in these roles, and they might be thinking, ‘I’m just out of my first year, what advice do I have to give?’ For us on the staff, we can help them realize that they have a lot to offer new Scholars through their personal, Penn State and Schreyer stories.
“I also think it’s really empowering for them to understand that they have something to give back,” Dierks added. “Through just the NSE’s first year, we’ve really seen our peer educators and leaders really grow and blossom in their roles as mentors and friends. That’s the part that makes me most excited about the program and its future.”
With the financial backing of the Schreyer Foundation, the College’s leadership’s commitment to supporting Scholars’ success and a dedicated group of peers eager to see their community thrive, Schreyer’s New Scholar Experience is poised to help incoming students for many years to come.
“We’ve always tried new things, and that’s an important part of the growth of anything – you have to be able to experiment and not be afraid to fail. I don’t think we should ever stop doing that.” said Meyer. “Every year we just get better and better.”
SHO Time through the years photo gallery
