Acclimating to a new campus can be difficult, especially for transfer students like Indiana University School of Nursing student Aaron Marko. After transferring to the Indianapolis campus from Bloomington in his third semester, he was looking to get involved with campus events to help ease the transition. Then he discovered the Student Nurse Partnership Program (SNPP).
The SNPP—part of the Student Nurses Association — is a mentorship program that matches nursing students who are in different stages of their educational journey. Students are matched based on the semester they are in, as well as interest forms they complete at the beginning of each semester.
After meeting at a welcoming event, mentor and mentee pairings set up their own study sessions and check-ins throughout the semester.
“Nursing school sometimes can be isolating, but once you get these mentors and mentees together and you’re able to build these friendships, it’s both fulfilling to see other people build the friendships as well as make the connections yourself,” said Roxy Bewley, senior BSN student and SNA co-president.
Marko, who began as a mentee, soon became a mentor himself and now serves as the director of the program.
This semester, about 50 students were matched into 25 mentor-mentee partnerships. Each of them will benefit from shared study tips, test-taking strategies, and general advice about how to navigate nursing school.
“I’d say four or five of the 25 pairs requested the mentor they had the prior semester,” Marko explained. “They were saying all these beautiful things about how their mentor made them feel welcome and feel seen.”
BSN students Paige Collins and Kara Bennett were one such pair.
The pair initially bonded over similar life experiences and a shared nursing specialty goal of working in labor and delivery and women’s health, Collins said.
Bennett, who is in her first year of the nursing program, joined the SNPP in the fall to help her through the transition from her prerequisite classes to her nursing courses. After her first semester with Collins, she felt more equipped and confident to tackle the challenges she faced in her classes.
“She really helped bridge that gap between the prerequisites and nursing school because they’re very different,” Bennett said. “Having Paige made me feel less alone, and she always made me aware that she’s there for me.”
As a mentor, Collins understands Bennett’s anxieties about classwork and exams, and her main objective is to help her prepare for what comes next.
“It’s my goal, and what we should be doing as mentors, to help them feel like they’ve got this and what they’ve seen on social media or online isn’t necessarily true,” Collins said, noting that the dosage exam is another source of a lot of anxiety for nursing students, especially online.
Collins began the SNPP program as a mentor because she enjoyed supporting and helping her friends and classmates.
“I think it’s part of nursing to want to help and be that person that gives others resources. If somebody is like, ‘Oh gosh, I forgot to take notes on this,’ I am always happy to provide them with mine,” Collins said.
Collins and Bennett plan to continue leaning on each other for support, even beyond the SNPP.
“The SNPP has not only helped me and supported my academic success, but it’s also helped me grow personally and professionally,” Bennett said. “It’s also given me Paige, she’s not only my mentor, but also one of my friends.”