Highlighting Seth Harrison - Mentoring New Boilermakers 

Seth Harrison, Purdue sophomore, devoted his summer to helping first-year students build a strong foundation to their academic careers. Drawing from his own experience as a student, Harrison came alongside new Boilermakers in the Early Start program by serving as their peer mentor. 

Published: Jan. 27, 2026

Purdue sophomore Seth Harrison guided first-year students navigating the college experience by serving as peer mentor for Purdue’s Early Start program this past summer. 

He was one of 50 Boilermakers who dedicated themselves to making Early Start — a five-week program designed to help incoming students find community, acclimate to university life and develop strategies for success ahead of the fall term — a reality. 

Harrison, who was a participant in Early Start during his first year, chose to be a peer mentor because he wanted to use his experience to benefit the incoming class of students. 

“Through Early Start, I got to take what I’ve learned from being a student and use it to help new students feel like they belong at Purdue and take their best shot at success,” he says. 

Organizing one-on-one meetings with his students was one of his favorite aspects of mentoring. He recalls his students often told him afterwards that his guidance made them evaluate their academic careers in ways they did not think of before. 

Sometimes this meant he led students to completely reevaluate their plans and pursue new goals. 

“One student told me sometime after our conversation he realized his original area of study was not his true passion. He said he was changing majors and was very excited that I had caused him to discover what he actually wanted to study,” he says. 

Not only is peer mentoring a meaningful opportunity to make an impact on others, Harrison says it is also a means to further a career. 

“Being a peer mentor is a great way to both have fun during the summer and develop important soft skills like working with others, building a team and leading those under you.” 

Boilermakers like Harrison can also experience life as peer mentors during this year’s summer programs by applying  today. The application for our pre-college peer mentor program is open now through February, as space allows.