College of Charleston Student Starts Peer Mentorship Service

^{Above: First-year students marking their beginning of the College of Charleston experience at convocation (Photo by Mike Ledford)}

The universal experience of adjusting to a new environment can be challenging, especially for new students. That’s why Michael James “MJ” Biener decided to create Palmetto Mentors, a student-lead mentorship service offered to incoming first-year and transfer students.

When Biener first came to the College of Charleston, he joined Pi Kappa Phi, and his experience having a “big brother” in the fraternity was instrumental in his academic career – and also gave him the idea for Palmetto Mentors.

“I remember one night I was thinking how it’s so cool that I have a big who’s always been there to give me advice and guide me,” recalls the rising senior majoring in integrated studies and minoring in entrepreneurship, who came to college without the first clue of what he wanted to do with his education. “I never really cared about school, or anything that was not social or sports related.”

In the spring semester of his sophomore year, the Hillsdale, New Jersey, native enrolled in his first entrepreneurship class: Impact X, a course in which students work with mentors form a startup and pitch their ideas. It was the turning point in his academic and professional career.

“Impact X started this next chapter of my life where I became so passionate about entrepreneurship to the point where I eat, sleep and breathe it,” he says, remembering that his friends back home gave him grief for switching up his lifestyle to that of an entrepreneur. “I think I found a big passion in entrepreneurship and being a lifelong learner. A lot of friends from home are like, ‘Who are you? What happened to the kid who only cared about baseball?’”

The College’s entrepreneurship program, known for promoting social and environmental impact, compels students like Biener to think about how to make a profit – and, more importantly, how to make a difference.

Biener’s first idea was a smart walking cane for the elderly.

“My grandmother has Parkinson’s disease, so I thought I would make something that could make her life easier,” says Biener, whose idea won the pitching competition in his Impact X class and ended up placing third in the school-wide competition. This experience instilled confidence in himself – and the idea of a peer mentorship service.

After Impact X, Biener took the Launch X course, which is dedicated to helping successful Impact X projects continue growing their foundation. This is where he began working on his initial idea for an app helping incoming students get to know each other and plan social events. After pitching in front of class and gathering feedback, he decided he needed to pivot to create more value. He shifted his focus from social to professional development.

Palmetto Mentors, a peer mentorship service offered to incoming and transfer students at the College, employs more than 20 CofC students. The program aims to mitigate stress that comes with being a new student by having experienced leaders at the College advise on registration, living situations, clubs, community involvement, internships, résumés and mental health. By having mentors who have all at one point or another been in the mentees’ shoes, the students can rest assured their mentor has their best interests in mind.

“The beauty of peer mentorship is I can give them honest truths because I sat exactly where they sat three years ago,” says Biener, whose goals for the company are derived from the College’s institutional goals for the future: 1) improve retention rate, 2) improve four-year graduation rate and 3) improve percentage of students with jobs following graduation.

After a successful pilot program during spring 2024, Palmetto Mentors will begin its official business operations this fall. Biener – who hopes to pass the business down to another entrepreneurial leader at the College when he graduates – gives just about all of the credit to his professors, Sarah Castle (marketing), Lancie Affonso (entrepreneurship and computer science) and Troy Knauss (management and marketing), for giving him the tools needed to succeed.

And, through Palmetto Mentors, those tools will continue to help other students succeed, as well.