Starting a new semester comes with plenty of questions: Where do I go for help? How do I get involved? Who can I ask when I have no idea what I’m doing?

And maybe most importantly: Where are my people?

CSUSB students pose for a selfie at the Coyote Experience Kickoff.
CSUSB students pose for a selfie at the Coyote Experience Kickoff.

At the Coyote Experience Kickoff, CSUSB students had a chance to start answering those questions by meeting fellow Coyotes, connecting with student mentors and learning about the people and opportunities that can help make a big university feel a little smaller.

Hosted by the Student Mentoring Program, the kickoff brought students together on the Santos Manuel Student Union North Patio for lunch, icebreakers and peer-to-peer conversations. The  event was part of Coyote Experience, CSUSB’s student success initiative designed to support students from their first day on campus through graduation.

At the Coyote Experience Kickoff, new Coyotes connected with student mentors, who answered questions and shared campus tips and ways to get involved.
At the Coyote Experience Kickoff, new Coyotes connected with student mentors, who answered questions and shared campus tips and ways to get involved. 

One of the biggest advantages of the Coyote Experience is connection — not just to campus resources, but to other students who have already learned a thing or two about navigating college.

Through the Student Mentoring Program, new Coyotes are connected with student mentors who can answer questions, share campus tips and point them toward resources, student organizations and opportunities to get involved. Often described as a student’s “first friend on campus,” mentors give new students something particularly valuable during these first weeks at CSUSB: a peer who knows the ropes.

That peer-to-peer connection took center stage at the Aug. 27 kickoff. After table icebreakers and an introduction to the Coyote Experience, students received a welcome from Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) before settling in for lunch and conversations with one another.

CSUSB President Terri Gomez (at right) talks with a student.
CSUSB President Terri Gomez (at right) talks with a student.

The kickoff is just one piece of the larger Coyote Experience. Throughout the year, students can tap into academic planning and student success support, attend academic skills workshops and First-Year Experience events, and join Interest Packs that help them explore their interests, discover career possibilities and meet other students who share them.

For first-time, first-year students, the journey also includes the First-Year Experience and University Studies 1000, a success course designed to help students adjust to college while building the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to succeed.

After table icebreakers, an introduction to the Coyote Experience, and a welcome from Associated Students, Inc. (ASI), students settled in for lunch and conversations with one another.
After table icebreakers, an introduction to the Coyote Experience, and a welcome from Associated Students, Inc. (ASI), students settled in for lunch and conversations with one another.