Psychology can be a heavy major for new freshmen to traverse. The Psychology Department at BYU-Idaho understands this, so a couple of years back they began to implement the William James Mentorship, a program that aims to help first-semester freshman navigate the new challenges that come with their introduction to university life.
Yohan Delton, chair of the Psychology Department, says the mentorship is tailored to each student’s needs.
“The William James mentor is able to let them know what’s needed as they need it, I suppose, as they see the need in the freshman, and perhaps guide them through some of the activities or some of the things on campus they might want to focus on based on the weakness that the mentor sees,” Delton said.
Delton says the success of the program is focused on human connection.
“It’s the people that matter more. [The] Program is just there to facilitate human interaction, human connection. And so that’s what it’s aimed to do, is to bring somebody in the psychology fold, if you will,” Delton said.
William James was a psychology professor at Harvard who was known as a defender of agency in the scientific realm. He was also the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States and is often called the “father of psychology.”
Delton says William James talked about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in one of his books.
“If you read his book on the ‘Varieties of Religious Experience,’ you will see that he shows a theme called ‘self surrender,’ and that’s to Jesus Christ,” Delton said. “And he describes the spiritual experiences that people have that drastically changes them. And one of those persons is Joseph Smith. So, he talks about the Book of Mormon.”
A mentor in the program can expect to have anywhere from 6-12 freshmen mentees. Delton says they’ll be asked to contribute only 2-3 hours a week to mentor freshman, as he knows students have lives outside of their service in the program.
For anyone uncertain about whether or not they’d be a good mentor, Delton has this message:
“It’s not about them being certain or uncertain. It’s about caring for someone else as the most important factor,” Delton said. “If they’re self-selecting, that’s great. If they’re self-selecting for their own self, that’s not going to be a successful program. You don’t do this because you want something on your resume. You do it because you want to help someone else out.”
Delton says what matters most is that students who come through the psychology program don’t separate their faith from their study.
“I think many of us, when we read the scriptures, we attempt to pray so that we’ll be inspired to know and be fed by what we read. But then when we open any other book, we don’t do the same,” Delton said. “So, this is an attempt to have the student realize that when she opens a textbook, she can also bring Christ into her work.”
In order to be eligible to be a mentor, you need to be a psychology major with a 3.0 GPA.
If you’re interested in becoming a mentor yourself, head over to the Psychology Department, or click on the link to the sign-up.