Culture
Want To Know What It's Like To Be A Peer Mentor?
By BSOC Education Portfolio
5/9/2020
The first few weeks of university is undoubtedly an intimidating yet exciting experience for most first-years. There’s no better way to explore university life than to hear from someone who has been there and done it. That’s why the UNSW Business Society is proud to announce its Peer Mentoring Recruitment for 2021 to offer the chance for YOU to make someone’s university experience better whilst developing skills such as leadership, confidence and teamwork.
So what’s it like being a peer mentor? The Senior Mentor of 2020, Bruce Zhu, shares his experiences of being in BSOC’s Peer Mentoring Program for the past two years.
Over the last two years, the program has given me the opportunity to meet and create new memories with some amazing people all from diverse backgrounds. From participating in weekly activities to going out and having cross-bonding dinners with other mentoring groups, being a peer mentor has been extremely enjoyable and memorable. Leading a group of first-years with my co-mentor has developed my leadership and communication skills but the most rewarding aspect of being a Peer Mentor was knowing that the bonds made and memories shared with my group had left a positive impact on my mentees as they comfortably settled into university.
This gave me the motivation to become a Senior Peer Mentor this year as I wanted to continue seeing incoming students transition into their new lives and wanted to facilitate that growth by helping organise the program and the events alongside the Education Team. Although this year we weren’t able to meet our mentoring groups as frequently compared to last year due to quarantine and social distancing, it was amazing to see all the mentors’ dedication to facilitating bonding through alternative means such as calling regularly over Zoom and participating in our first ever virtual Closing Event with over 200 participants. If you are passionate about helping others and are looking for an opportunity to test your leadership skills all whilst forming new friendships and memories, I definitely recommend applying to become a BSOC Peer Mentor!
Peer Mentoring provides an awesome opportunity to enrich your leadership skills and help facilitate the transition into first year for new students through an AHEGS accredited program.
Check out the Facebook event link below for further details on how to apply to become a Peer Mentor for 2021: https://tinyurl.com/y2kmkuhy