For incoming TCU freshmen, classes, professors and college life in general can be intimidating. However, this semester Milton Daniel Hall developed a mentorship program that has created a bond among the residents in the hall, Milton Daniel Hall Director David Stout said.

The mentorship program pairs upperclassmen who live on the third floor of Milton Daniel with freshmen throughout the rest of the building, he said. Mentors help their mentees adjust to life at TCU and in the John V. Roach Honors College.

Freshman geography major Tiffany Huff said she signed up for the mentorship program to get to know upperclassmen and help her to make connections. She can rely on her mentor to help answer questions or concerns about classes and professors for next semester, she said.

“I’ve only had one meeting with my mentor, but it was really surprising to me how much we had in common,” Huff said. “I already feel like I can go talk to her or go hang out.”

Junior criminal justice major Samantha Stroud, a resident assistant in Milton Daniel, was part of the brainstorming that went into establishing the mentoring program.

Stroud said the general idea of a mentorship program had been floating around the Honors College office and Milton Daniel since the hall reopened last year. However, it was this year that the program was officially developed.

The program sought to create cohesion between freshmen and upperclassmen in the hall and let freshmen know they have someone in their residence hall to go to, she said.

Sophomore psychology and philosophy double major Paige Hunter said it is the mentor’s responsibility to contact their mentees and arrange meetings. They act as an upperclassmen friend and an unofficial tutor.

“If [the mentees] do have the same majors as you, obviously we’ve already taken the intro courses that they have, so we can help them out with that and balancing schedules,” Hunter said.

Through the mentorship program, upperclassmen are able to talk to people who are not in their class and get a chance to help those who are experiencing what they have already gone through, she said.

Although the program only lasts for one year, Stout said he hopes Milton Daniel residents continue to build strong relationships that last through their time at TCU.

“It’s just another reason why we believe Milton Daniel has an incredible community with incredible residents, and it is a fantastic example of an idea becoming a vision, becoming a program,” Stout said.