Leah Thompson – Staff Writer

During Monday’s Mock Bar Hop there were many activities for students to do. Some of the most popular events included Plinko with trivia questions, pong and karaoke along with wellness pot painting and a photo booth. Mocktails were served to students alongside the various activities.
The Peer Assistants, PAs for short, are a group of Gustavus students who are committed to helping Gusties navigate college life through informative but fun events. Some of their most well-known events include the Midnight Express and the 100 Hour Challenge.
All PAs go through intensive training to help direct students to the proper professionals on campus. They are there for ‘in the moment’ assistance and afterward to help to guide students to various organizations and resources on campus that can continue to support them.
Juniors Zach Gbor, Eliza Scherschligt and Keely Schuck are all in their second year of Peer Assisting on campus. Scherschligt and Schuck are both PA coordinators while Gbor works as the DEI co-chair.
The PA coordinators are responsible for a lot of behind-the-scenes work.

“Being a PA coordinator means that we are in top leadership positions. We deal with day-to-day operations and meet with the full executive board. We meet with our advisor twice a week, lead various training exercises for PAs and help boost group morale,” Scherschligt and Schuck said.

All PAs are expected to work at least three to four hours a week while the PA coordinators work between ten and 15 hours a week due to the volume of their work.
There are four main committees that the PAs are split between which include, fitness and nutrition, healthy relationships, mental health, and chemical health.
At the beginning of the year, the PAs are able to rank these options from most preferred to least preferred. A majority of the time they are placed within their top committee. Each group is responsible for holding at least one specific committee-related event each year.
Gbor, Scherschligt and Schuck are all members of the chemical health committee which hosted Monday night’s Mock Bar. The goal of this event was to inform students about substance abuse in a fun but educational way.
In addition to the variety of activities that were provided by the PAs during Monday night’s event in the lower level of the Campus Center, prizes were available to students in attendance.
The trio asked participating students to fill out a survey accessed through a QR code about the event. The survey asked students what they thought about the event, what they learned and what they would share with a friend or family member. Each student who filled out the survey was entered into a prize drawing.
“[The data from] our surveys are reliable because they’re anonymous. It allows students to answer questions openly and honestly,” Schuck said.
“People are responsive to surveys and help us gauge how individual events went. We use this data from students to directly plan PA events on campus,” Scherschligt said.
The PAs first-ever Mock Bar went well according to the three juniors. There was good student turnout which is due to the PAs usage of social media to promote events and other Gusties that repost the events online.
“We were able to talk with students during the event about what went well and what could be better. Overall, it was a fun event that had a good reception from students,” Gbor said.
Although this was the chemical health committee’s last event of the semester, there will be other PA events this year. Some of the upcoming events this year include a sleep health specialist who will be here the week after Spring Break where Insomnia Cookies will be offered. Another event that the PAs will host is a week-long collab with ARC that will include a supple drive, a movie night, and a panel discussion.
At the beginning of April, the National College Health Assessment (NCHA) will be released through the PAs to the Gustavus student body. The NCHA is a survey that helps provide information about the student body and their health habits, behaviors, and perceptions.