Sometimes the connection you need is one you don’t go searching for – just ask SMU transfer students Walker Homan and Bianey Rojas. As members of the inaugural Mustang Mentors Peer Mentoring cohort, they’ve found in each other not only a peer mentor and mentee, but also a friend who has enriched their college experience.
Walker, the peer mentor, and Bianey, the mentee, were first paired together in September 2024 through the Mustang Mentors’ matching survey, which pairs mentors and mentees together based on shared academic interests, hobbies, and backgrounds. Both transfer students majoring in Economics, Walker with a Math minor and Bianey with a double minor in Business and Spanish, the pair quickly found commonality in their academic experiences and transition to SMU. However, it is the different perspectives they each share with each other that makes their mentorship truly unique.
Reflecting on her academic experiences, Bianey recalled how close-minded she felt towards math as a subject until she met Walker. “Walker will just do math for fun! Being mentored by him has shifted my mindset about math and he always encourages me to not give up in my classes,” says Bianey.
Meanwhile Walker, who initially felt unqualified to be a mentor, says, “with it being only my second semester at SMU, mentorship to Bianey has given me another way to define myself. In the context of SMU, it’s given me another SMU identity. Yeah, I’m an Econ student, and I do undergraduate research, but I’m also a Mustang Mentor.”
Bianey also describes how Mustang Mentors has deepened her sense of belonging at SMU. “I love SMU, but I thought being a transfer and commuter student would really make it different for me. Being a commuter, I just would come to campus just for class and then go back home, but through this mentorship program and the events, it has given me a reason to stay and meet other people in the program,” says Bianey.
The two agreed that there is no way they would’ve met if not for Mustang Mentors. “This program connects you to people you otherwise wouldn’t have met. If you can be a peer mentor in Mustang Mentors, just do it. Especially if you’re a transfer student, it’s just nice to have one more friendly face on campus,” says Walker.
The Mustang Mentors program goes beyond academics. Through shared insights and consistent encouragement, peer mentoring empowers students like Walker and Bianey to make the most of their SMU journey. To learn more about Mustang Mentors, visit our website at smu.edu/mustangmentors.