DAILY CLIPS COVER - East Carolina University

Ballard: Students support each other
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Students supporting students is heartwarming. At East Carolina University that happens a
lot. This spring my husband and I hosted an end-of-the-semester reception for Shipmates,
a group that truly exemplifies this characteristic.
Shipmates is a Student Government Association (SGA) mentoring program for first-year
students designed to offer guidance, provide introductions to issues and events and
generally encourage networking and familiarity with campus life. Within a collegiate
environment, effective communication, interpersonal skills, social responsibility and lifelong
learning traits are introduced and reinforced. The ultimate goal is to contribute to
development of future leaders at the university and beyond.
At a follow-up lunch last week I quizzed outgoing SGA president Tremayne Smith and
one of our yell leaders, Mickey Quidort, about all the ways SGA supports Shipmates. I
learned that the students tapped to be in Shipmates participate together in orientation, the
plunge into purple at Pirate Palooza, the challenges of a ropes course, area tours of
campus like athletics, socials and dinners intended to promote etiquette, enjoying special
speakers, lessons on time management and organization, and the freshmen experience
course.
The freshmen experience course is designed to ensure a successful transition to college
life. Students learn essential study and life skills. They are introduced to key campus
recourses and cover topics such as dealing with change, effective interactions with
faculty, appropriate classroom behavior, self awareness and self esteem, motivation, goal
setting, learning styles, test-taking tips, issue solving, understanding their grade point
average (GPA) calculation, wellness education, and speaking skills.