Teddy Hsu came to NIU hoping to earn a college degree, but received something he never expected: A little sister.

Hsu, a junior communication major and mentor for the Asian American Resource Center, took on a protégé, freshman nursing major Robin Almazan, earlier this year. He values his relationship with Almazan.

“We have this closeness because we’re both very family oriented, which most Asian families are,” Hsu said.

Hsu thinks he has made a positive impact on his protégé’s experience at NIU.

“She knows that there is someone here on campus that she can always depend on no matter what time of day it is,” he said.

Various mentoring programs on campus help students develop strong study habits, get involved and develop leadership skills.

The mentoring program of the Latino and Asian American Resource centers provide this service to any freshman or new transfer student.

The Asian American Resource Center’s mentor program has 25 mentors and 25 “protégé” enrolled, said Mubarak Shabna Asmi, an Asian American Resource Center graduate assistant.

The organization’s mentor program started earlier this year.

Mentors help protégés acclimate to NIU, show where and how to study, how to get involved with on-campus activities and how to choose classes within a major, said Michelle Bringas, Asian American Resource Center director.

“Our mentor program helps create a welcoming environment for new students. It can help students identify with a group and feel that NIU is their home,” Bringas said.

The goal of mentor programs is to reduce students’ drop-out rate, Bringas said.

Asmi equates the Asian American Resource Center mentor program to gaining a new family member. For protégés, they gain a new big brother or sister; for mentors, a new little brother or sister.

Hsu thinks of his protégé as his little sister.

The Latino Resource Center mentor program, which the Asian American Center mentor program is based on, has similar goals.

According to mentor program specialist and Latino Resource Center grad assistant Angelica Cordova-Rajoo, the Latino Resource Center’s mentor program has 48 mentors and 56 first-year student participants, doubled from last year’s enrollment in the program. The program’s focus is on the development of life and social-networking skills, but there are academic aspects as well. It is sponsoring a time management workshop in November and is working on running weekly study groups, Rajoo said.

S-Plan, the mentor program of the NIU Center for Black Studies, has 30 mentors and 30 first-year student participants. It also accepts any first-year NIU student.

The program began in 1996 in response to the less than 50 percent retention rate of black males.

Thus far, it has raised the retention rate to between 75 and 90 percent, said Derrick Smith, S-Plan Coordinator and academic adviser for the Center for Black Studies.

“Our ultimate goal [for our mentor program] is student retention,” Smith said.

He also said offering new students a supportive environment was another main feature of the program.