Finding Her Thread

On campus Amanda Mede ‘20 is a kind, welcoming, genuine spirit, always ready to lend an ear. Majoring in psychology with a dual concentration in behavioral neuroscience and clinical/counseling, Amanda often finds herself helping others.

On campus Amanda Mede ‘20 is a kind, welcoming, genuine spirit, always ready to lend an ear. Majoring in psychology with a dual concentration in behavioral neuroscience and clinical/counseling, Amanda often finds herself helping others. 

“My friends send people to me telling them, ‘You might not know her, but she can help you.’” Amanda says, “My friends always come to me for advice, even with things I haven’t experienced and I always help them; ever since then I wanted to be a psychology major.” 

During a Peer Mentor workshop at the Career Development Center, Georgina Bliss spoke about developing strengths and “finding your thread”. Amanda realized that not only did she want to major in psychology, she wanted to mentor and positively influence those around her. 

Amanda developed her mentorship skills with an internship at Radcliffe Creek school, where she interned for two years, and is currently considering a job offer. Amanda’s internship began by running a transition committee where she helped 8th graders prepare for high school. 

“Atypical and typical students learn differently in this secluded area than they would at a traditional public school,” she said in regards to the importance of the committee.  

Quickly Amanda was given more responsibility, working one-on-one with students and teaching mediative classes. She ended her internship as a library assistant, where she helped atypical students pick out books.  

“I guided students in the right direction, making sure they were not reading on a level that was too low or too high for them.” Amanda continued, “I genuinely loved it so much, it was the best place ever. The only reason I’m not there this year is to focus on my senior thesis.” 

On campus Amanda is a Peer Mentor, acclimating first year students to WC and Vice President II for her sorority Zeta Tau Alpha, where she welcomes and mentors new members. 

"It felt so good to meet the new member class and mentor the girls and guide sisters. I was a middle ground, I knew the current sisters and I made a personal connect to all of the new members. That made it really fun to make activities for sisterhood nights and bonding activities and see everyone get along."

Amanda says both positions strengthen her leadership skills and teach her to be unbiased and discreet handling confidential information. 

“When people come to me with situations I always try not to give them the answers, but guide them in the right direction. I rather guide someone than have them be like ‘Amanda said I must do this and must do that,’ because that’s wrong. I want everyone to learn to make their own decisions.” 

After graduation, Amanda hopes to work in a middle school or high school, where she believes children are influenced the most. 

“I feel like middle school and high school are where people get bullied the most, being pressured to make friend groups, and start to make life decisions. That is also the time parents are trying their best to save money to pay for college and might not be as involved, and that can affect the child’s behavior so I want to be guidance for those kind of students.”