This fall, THRIVE is implementing a new model for its peer mentorship program. Under this model, only senior THRIVE students may serve as mentors, while a new THRIVE ambassador program offers sophomores and juniors the opportunity to take on other leadership roles.

The goal of the THRIVE peer mentorship program, according to Interim Director of THRIVE Mo Nunez, is to connect new first-year students from first-generation or low-income backgrounds with upperclass peers who can share advice on navigating the transition to college.

In the past, peer mentors have been sophomores, juniors and seniors, but this year, the peer mentorship program has transitioned to only hiring seniors. In the new ambassador program, sophomores and juniors can build on their experiences as THRIVE mentees, planning events and suggesting improvements to the program in groups.

Nunez shared that part of the goal behind the program’s restructuring is to help THRIVE students build skills gradually throughout their time at Bowdoin, culminating in a mentorship role during their senior year.

“The idea is it’s like this ramp, so that by the time you get to your senior year, you’ve thought about these things, you’ve worked toward these things and then you get to realize some of your own designs. It’s not just you sitting at a table, brainstorming and throwing it at the wall and seeing what sticks. You’re like, ‘Oh, I came up with that. I get to do that now,’” Nunez said.

Since this is the inaugural year of THRIVE’s new model, the only THRIVE students that will receive mentorship this year are the 18 Geoffrey Canada Scholars in the Class of 2029. While this allows THRIVE staff to collect data on how the program changes are working, Nunez noted that the mentorship program will grow from here.

“A lot of the changes, adjustments and additions are all based on creating sustainable frameworks that are flexible, that are not dependent on just one person, that are collaborative, so that there are iterations of student feedback with the changes we want to make [and] add,” Nunez said.

Nunez explained that the changes have been in the works since February, building on feedback from mentees and mentors about the desire for a more standardized experience.

Former THRIVE peer mentor Isabelle Rivera Gandrung ’26 did not have the experience she had hoped with her peer mentor during her first year, which motivated her to become a peer mentor during her sophomore and junior years.

“I was a [first-year] in THRIVE, and my experience was not so great…. So being a sophomore, I was like, ‘It’d be nice to help people have a better [first year],’” Rivera Gandrung said.

Though she found the mentorship experience rewarding, Rivera Gandrung did not reapply to be a peer mentor as a senior this year, partly because she felt frustrated by the changes to the mentorship program. She recalled that when peer mentors were notified about changes to the program in March, few details were provided.

“The initial thought was [that] there wasn’t going to be peer mentoring during the fall semester, which caused a lot of outrage, because … the spring is not as useful, because you’ve been here for a semester [and] you don’t need as much support,” Rivera Gandrung said.

In response to peer mentor feedback, THRIVE began peer mentorship at the end of September instead of waiting until the spring semester.

Nunez is looking forward to observing how the revised mentorship program will evolve, with the hope of improving the experience for both mentors and mentees while supporting the development of all THRIVE students.

“What I love about the opportunities is that they can be stacked, so one opportunity or experience can inform another,” Nunez said. “I love that design where things just link to other things.”