Women of Integrity program helps female students go from ‘how’ to ‘now’.
Women at any age experience a juggling act between family, work, school, and friends. Education can ultimately fall last on the priority list, especially if you are new to the college realm. The San Jacinto College Women of Integrity (WOI) mentoring organization helps ease the burden of “how” by guiding the students to “now.”
The sister organization to Men of Honor, both mentoring organizations pair students (mentees) with faculty, staff, or peer mentors who meet with them face-to-face once a month or more to assist them with any academic needs – from study tips, time management advice, providing information for the number of free academic resources the College offers, and to serve as someone who can relate to the college-going experience.
Originally created in 2009 as a retention tool to aid in associate degree completion among minority male students, the Men of Honor organization branched out to include minority females within their mission to raise retention, graduation, and university transfer rates among San Jacinto College minority students.
WOI-Officers: The first student officers of the South Campus WOI chapter. Pictured left to right: Alexandra Alvarenga, secretary; Shrika Wynn, president; and Briana Harper, vice president.
Photo credit: Andrea Vasquez, San Jacinto College.
San Jacinto College student and WOI member, Shrika Wynn, said that having a mentor showed her that failure could lead to an even brighter future. Accepted into the College’s nursing program last year, Wynn decided to discontinue her nursing classes since she felt she was unprepared for the rigorous pace and content load, having no previous health science academic experience. Through the help of her mentor, Wynn applied for a scholarship to the College’s certified nursing aid program and after being selected as a recipient, decided to continue on her pathway to nursing, this time building a foundation that ultimately leads to the nursing program.
“Joining Women of Integrity was one of the best decisions I’ve made,” said Wynn. “Having a mentor has really helped me find direction within my educational path. Though I struggled with leaving the nursing program, she taught me that it’s not how you fall, but how you get back up that’s important. Now I feel like I’m pursuing nursing the right way, getting my prerequisites done rather than jumping in with no prior experience so that I’ll be better prepared and will accomplish more than I ever thought I could.” Wynn was also recently elected to be the first student president of the South Campus chapter of WOI.
According to the National Mentoring Partnership (NMP), 55 percent of young adults who face an opportunity gap but have a mentor are more likely to be enrolled in college than those who don’t. The NMP also states that students with mentors have better communication with their parents and show less symptoms of depression. In Forbes Magazine’s 2010 World Economic Forum Report, of the 20 countries they surveyed, 59 percent of the companies who participated said they have internally led mentoring and networking programs with 28 percent of those being specifically for women.
“The success we have seen with WOI is largely due to the dedicated efforts of our campus advisors and mentors,” said Ron Hopkins, San Jacinto College director of diverse student populations. “None of these individuals are directly compensated for their service, and I know that there would not be the growth in numbers of participants without their help and dedication toward this effort. We look forward to continue growing this great mentoring organization for our female students and providing them with the support they need along their educational journeys.”
For more information on Women of Integrity and other student success initiatives, visit sanjac.edu/san-jac-innovations.
– Andrea Vasquez