Join ASPIRE and complete your 2024-2025 Mentee application here! Application deadline is Sept. 20, 2024, 5:00PM.
Asian American and Pacific Islander Students Promoting Inspiration, Resilience, and Empowerment (ASPIRE)
The U is a big campus. You’re in a new kind of learning environment. There’s a lot of new people you’ve never met before. You have a newfound freedom to take risks, explore, and grow into the person you want to be. You’re away from home in a way you’ve never been before. You’ll meet people who are amazing and will become your lifelong friends. You’ll also meet people who just don’t understand you and make you feel unappreciated. Sometimes college can be exhilarating but sometimes that can feel overwhelming. ASPIRE is here to support you through these experiences as you learn and grow during your time at college!
The ASPIRE Peer Mentorship Program is your community to find belonging on campus, create meaning relationships with other AAPI students, and connect yourself to resources that help you thrive at the U!
ASPIRE is a space where you can make new friends, get know to others on a meaningful level, and have fun to support each other through school. ASPIRE is an environment where you can express yourself authentically and fully. Most importantly, ASPIRE is your family and your home away from home.
Students can participate in the program as an ASPIRE Coordinator, Peer Mentor, or Peer Mentee.
- ASPIRE Program Coordinators are paid student leaders that develop, coordinate, and facilitate the ASPIRE program. ASPIRE Coordinators also work to provide support and guidance for Peer Mentors and Mentees. ASPIRE Coordinators ensure that Peer Mentors and Mentees develop a meaningful mentoring experience. ASPIRE Coordinators engage in weekly planning meetings, organize monthly ASPIRE Circle group activities, and facilitate ASPIRE group discussions.
- Peer Mentors are volunteer leaders that work one-on-one with Mentees to provide support and guide Mentees throughout the year. Peer Mentors are essential to ASPIRE and facilitate the experience of Mentees in the program. Each mentor will be paired up with another mentor, along with their respective mentees, to create family pods. Family pods will serve to build community and create social support systems for mentees and mentors. There will be group events that provide opportunities for Mentors and Mentees to engage in-person with social and educational activities. These group events also provide opportunities for Mentors and Mentees to meet other family groups and develop community as a cohort.
- Peer Mentees join ASPIRE and work closely with their Mentors for support at campus. Throughout the year, Mentees connect with their Mentor for one-on-ones, hangout in their family pods, and participate in ASPIRE Circle activities to cultivate a variety of experiences.
