MIS for BeWell 2016

I believe that I, alongside my co-mentor, were able to create an environment wherein our newcomers were able to engage with all facets of university life while having a strong support system to guide them through any troubles Therefore, I am confident to say that we have been successful in providing the support to allow our mentees to transition into the new university environment The transition did not come without any bumps in the road, which at first made me question the job that I did as a mentor However, I quickly learnt that a seamless transition was not one which was symbolic of being a 'good mentor' Rather, my co-mentor and I were able to be there for our mentees when they struggled, we were able to help guide them through the difficult moments, and we fostered a group that truly cared for each other and who wanted to see each other thriveFor these reasons, I look back on my mentor journey this term fondly I am proud of the people that my mentees have grown into Further, I can see the potential which each one of them holds to be leaders and mentors to those around them - whether in a professional capacity or just as a friend I believe that each one of our mentees has the capability to be successful at the University of Stellenbosch as well as in Metanoia Therefore, through their hard work, and hopefully our guidance as mentees, we were successful with support and assistance in the adjustment and transition into their new university environment

I feel like I did everything I could to have helped my mentees with their transition I answered their questions and I gave them the support I would have wanted if I was in their position and what I remembered getting last year I do think I was successful with providing them with the assistance and support

Yes, I do think I was My mentees always knew that i was there for them, i was that shoulder to cry on, that ear to listen to Adjusting to university life is of course a massive challenge and one that i needed to adapt to when I, myself, was a newcomer So with me knowing this, I made the environment as accomadating as possible, encompassing an environment in which we could share our feelings, our thoughts, what we are nervous about coming into university, what we are excited for etc I made it a an environment where we can make it light-hearted, share memes, share WhatsApp stickers, or share anything that would put a smile on each other's faces This helped contribute to assist with transitioning into university I had an open-door policy as well, which allowed my mentees to come to me whenever they wanted, and share whatever was on their chest This further contributed to helping my mentees transition into a new environment

Yes, I do I believe that I did everything I could to help ease them into the university experience I provided as many tips and tricks as I could and offered advice I worked with an open door policy, which all of my mentees utilized I offered academic help (sometimes beyond what was expected of us as described in the mentor role) and emotional support where needed and appropriate My mentees have also verbally expressed to me that advice I gave them on navigating their new environment has helped them, be it Stellenbosch as a university or as a town (since I as well as half of my mentees are from far away) I think I used my position to the best of my abilities and helped to give my mentees a sense of belonging and direction

I do believe i was successful in this regard The conversations i have with my mentees at this time are very positive I feel they have adjusted very well into both residence and university and do feel i have provided assistance in this

Yes I think I was successful in providing support and assistance in the transitioning of my menteesAn example of this was seen with one of my mentees who in the beginning was kind of shy with how he wanted to stay in his room most of the time Seeing how he is now, he seems a lot more comfortable He interacts with not just the people in his section but people in the other sections as well I'm happy for him

I would say yes They all seem very well adjusted and content with their current circumstances All seem to be all right

What has been the most challenging part of being a mentor? What will you do differently? What will you advise prospective mentors?

The most challenging part of being a mentor was trying to guide our mentees through unprecedented times to which we, as mentors ourselves, were not certain as to what the best path is to take My advice to future mentors would be to be strong in your support of your mentees when guiding them is not easy We will not always have the answers but we will always have the ability to comfort and consol

Trying to always comply with the covid protocols would definitely be the most difficult part and also trying to make the bewells as interesting and engaging as possible I would have probably tried to have more one on one engagements with my mentees and checked up on them more when it got to tough times in the terms like around exams

The most challenging part was in welcoming week, when towards the end, I started getting very fatigued, very tired (on minimal sleep), and i felt i could not give the best version of myself to my mentees Another very challenging part was, as a mentor body, keeping united I felt there were cliques on the mentor body which threatened to divide us This was a challenge What i would do differently is devote more me-time to myself during welcoming week That was something i felt i did not do this year, and looking back, I did not do that What i would advise prospective mentors is to not take the role for granted: You still need to listen to the policies in place at your res/PSO even if you are a leader Yes, you may get fatigued, and yes, you might just need to release yourself, but you cannot forget that in COVID times, and with an alcohol ban in place in residences, you still need to adhere to this, because all eyes are on you and certain people will look for things to make you fall Furthermore, i would advise future mentors to give themselves, each day, time to themselves, especially during welcoming week Whether this is through watching an episode of a series, or reading a chapter of a book, it is good to spend some quality time with yourself It is vital for your mental health

I think the most challenging part was setting boundaries I found myself offering up a lot of extra time to help with assignments, chores and things that in a sense are not part of the job description I never minded doing any of these things but they did take away time from things I needed to get done Were I to be a mentor ever again/What I would advise other mentors to do is to decide early on what they are comfortable with and clearly understand and communicate what their role as mentor is Stick to it

I found the most challenging part to be an openness to being to being vulnerable with my mentees I found in order for my mentees to open up and let me know what they struggle with or need assistance with I had to express my own struggles to make them feel more comfortable This is not something i am always open to doing myself If i had to do things differently i would be very open with my mentees from the beginning ad would advise other prospective mentors to do the same

The most challenging part was the perception I had of my mentees I thought of them as one of my children I had to realize that these gentlemen were grown men who are responsible for their decisions My job was just to show them the bigger picture of their actionsTreat your mentees as grown individuals

Most challenging part for me is always adjusting to the new types of newcomers you can get They are never the same and as a result you need to be flexible My main issue is trying to integrate them well enough Advice I would give it just go with the flow You can't really control much in a job such as this one Every group is different from the next

How do you think you think you refined and strengthened your "communication" skills during your term as a mentor? Please elaborate.

I think my communication skills were vastly improved thanks to my term as a mentor Being in a team with such fantastic leaders has taught me so many lessons which are incredibly valuable in my life outside of mentorship - one of those skills being communication Being able to articulate your point clearly and listening to others became vital in many discussions about COVID-19 protocols and therefore my communication skills were definitely refined

I definitely learnt that silence is not always a bad thing and I should be scared of it Often in bewells people don't want to engage on a topic and sometimes that's okay because they thinking about it more than feeling the need to say what's on their minds I also realised that sharing my own experiences helped my mentees share theirs Making myself vulnerable around them showed them that I am just like them and that they can trust me just like how I trust them

By being an active listener, in which i listened very attentively to what people were saying, this helped advance my communication skills Furthermore, I have learnt how vital it is to communicate to everybody what is going on If you do not do this, you will end up playing broken telephone where you hear different pieces of information from different people This is not what you want Communication skills are a vital component to ensuring a smooth running mentor body In previous leadership positions I have been in, I tended to not always communicate with fellow leaders, particularly if I was stressed I used to bottle up my emotions or not have my say in what I felt should be done because I was very introverted Being a mentor has developed this aspect of myself I now, always communicate to my fellow mentors what I am feeling, ensuring that everyone understands what is required of them It has shown how it is important to be clear in what you are saying, so that everyone is on the same page, and henceforth know their roles My communication, as a result, has developed for the better The way i learnt to communicate more with my fellow leaders, is through education: I googled and read up a lot on the key techniques of communication, watched TedTalks on listening skills and communication, and rea up on how important communication is This has helped me strengthen my communication skills

I learned how to articulate myself more directly I often try to dance around problems as I am quite non-confrontational Although I would not say I became confrontational in any sense (or that there was ever any drama), I learned how to address any problems that arose directly, openly and concisely

I found my communication skills to be refined in that i can now communicate effectively with a much wider group of people I have often struggled to engage properly with people with backgrounds very different to my own Through being mentor i think i have refined this skill by seeing the importance of actively listening and understanding many people, although very different, will still have a lot to relate to with eachother

There had been a period where my mentees were so busy that there was no time to actually have a BeWell meeting Some of my mentees weren't even in res at the time I mean in between Clayton just wanting to be in his room, Zack, Cade and Nash were always wanting to chase the vibe of the res, Scott always had First team Maties hockey practice and Marcus just always wanted to be with his significant other I had to capitalize on the fact that no matter how busy one getsone has to be on their cellular device at some point I decided to do a conference video call over Whatsapp where I held a to-the-point BeWell meeting just to check up on how they were actually doing Turns out my mentees were transitioning and integrating with Metanoia regardless of the covid protocol obstacleNO doubt that if covid was not a thing, the rest of Metanoia would enjoy the place even more

The app provided really gave things to talk about and really opened up the space in times where you wouldn't be too sure on what to chat about

How do you think you think you refined and strengthened your "collaboration" skills during your term as a mentor? Please elaborate.

Being surrounded by fantastic leaders has been a catalyst for the development of my personal character and leadership skills Collaborating with the fantastic leaders and people in our mentor body has aided in the development of my understanding of what it means to be a team player I think that undoubtedly, my ability to work and function in a team has developed thanks to my mentoring journey Of course, being able to function in a team is a result of improved collaboration skills, and therefore I feel this mentoring journey has successfully helped me become a better collaborator This is exciting as it is a skill which I can apply outside of my university life

I definitely learnt that working as a team is much better then trying to do work thing alone especially with the whole mentoring position There was often times when I didn't know how to deal with a situation and just getting help or opinions from my fellow mentors helped a lot Also seeing how my mentees grew to become a team with one another throughout the year was amazing to watch and just how well they work together

Collaboration skills allow you to strive towards a common goal: a bigger picture with fellow leaders This includes clear communication, active listening (something i mentioned earlier in one of the other questions), being accountable for your actions, and respecting the diversity of your fellow mentors, regardless of their backgrounds Furthermore, you have to be open-minded in which you accept new ideas, you have to be organised, and you have to be adapatable I, as a mentor, have seen the importance of having all of these skills, as well as the downside of when you lack these skills The way i strengthend these skills was through learning: seeking advice from fellow leaders of what i did right in a situation, what i did incorrectly etc and then learning how i can improve these skills or what i should do next time, should a similar situation arise Furthermore, i learnt the hard way This was when i maybe miscommunincated something to another mentor and i saw how false info spread I learnt the difficult way, however as a result, i have strenghened my collaboration skills

Being mentor obviously involves being a part of a team I think I've always been fairly good at listening to others' input and ideas, but not as good at giving my own I'm always worried I come across as bossy or trying to take control As I was very comfortable with my mentor team, I became better at raising opinions and giving input This went beyond just the mentor team as I found myself doing it in conversations with other groups (such as during assignments or conversations with the HK) With this, my communication skills also bettered I learned that collaboration goes both ways I also again saw the importance of having diverse opinions when making arrangements and plans, and being able to integrate them

I found during welcoming week a lot of collaboration was done within my section and i have improved in working in a team by realizing that often the things i lack can be taken on by those better suited to it and vice versa Moreover, within the leadership body i saw the effectiveness of collaboration where individual strengths can come together to achieve tasks more efficiently

The first and last time that we, as a team, went out together was blissful We went to a restaurant called Bramptons and just had a time getting to know each other even better over wine Need I say that the decision to go to Bramptons was one that was made on the whim We, the mentors, had just been allocated free-time on what i recall was the 4th or 5th day during O-week Half of the body went to Bramptons using an Uber while the other half walked Might I add, the team was looking so good; our fashion sense as a Mentor body was on point Anyways, we get there Everyone was still a bit to themselves considering that that day was our first time out that is until the wine bottles arrived After the arrival of the infamous wine bottles, it was just a mess We were all just intoxicated One of the mentors had called an uber for the individuals who just could not hold their wine glass anymore Might I add that the act of calling an uber for that specific cause spoke to the collaboration of the team as a whole even in an informal setting

Having a co-mentor really helped with this as we frequently had to collaborate on most things we did with our Mentees and thus it paved the way for teamwork and collaboration to be explored

How do you think you think you refined and strengthened your "critical thinking" skills during your term as a mentor? Please elaborate.

In order to help facilitate an efficient welcoming week during difficult circumstances with regards to safety and the COVID-19 regulations - we needed to be able to think critically and make decisions quickly and decisively I personally feel that our welcoming week was successful mainly because of the ability of the HK and mentor body to be critical thinkers I have once again learnt from the leadership around me in terms of critical thinking I have been able to incorporate the way others think critically with the way I do so, and thus I have gained a valuable skill

A lot of the bewell sessions made me really think as well about what I could talk about and share with my mentees I had to do a lot of preparation and thinking because the bewells sometimes and even when they came to be with questions

This is similar to the previous question, which talked about collaboration skillsThe key critical thinking skills are: analysis, interpretation, inference, explanation, self-regulation, open-mindedness, and problem-solving I have improved these skills through the mentor camp in which we had to think of a vision for our leadership body, through the meetings we had as a mentor body as well Problem-solving , as well as open mindedness certainly improved through the critical engagement sessions we had in welcoming week where we talked about very sensitive, but very necessary topics in today's society

Throughout our term, I was at times presented with brand new dilemmas As time went on, I learned how to adapt faster, find the most amicable solution quicker, observe and analyze situations better and began to think about my reasoning for actions and decisions more critically I usually think before I act, and thus mostly have what I feel are justifiable reasons for my actions, but this year I started to really think if my reasons and actions would be justifiable to others before acting

As a mentor there was a lot required that i have never had to deal with before This includes decision-making as well as helping others with problems i am not familiar with it I found my critical thinking improved as a lot as a lot of thought had to go into what i decided on or said at times I saw myself more comfortable in taking on new challenges by realizing there is always a solution that can be thought of if one considers things from all angles

A time where critical thinking was really used was when the mentors needed access to the Big doors of Metanoia in order to efficiently assist with the arrival of the First YearsWe came up with the strategy of recording every time we had to ask for one of the house committee members to open the big doors as evidence To cut the story short we were granted our request

Once again, the app really helped with this as it provided questions which helped provoke thoughts at time when utilised

How do you think you think you refined and strengthened your "creativity" skills during your term as a mentor? Please elaborate.

My ability to be creative was often tested during welcoming when trying to facilitate ice-breaker events with my mentees and trying to get my mentees to contribute during BeWell This term, many of my mentees started as quite shy and reserved and therefore to facilitate the necessary conversations to help make the BeWell and bonding sessions meaningful was often difficult Therefore, we needed to think creatively in order to make this happen As stated in my reflected of how well we managed to integrate the newcomers into university life I believe that we were able to think creatively - and therefore our creativity skills have grown and flourished

Creativity was a bit think I grew with I am not a very creative person but I had to often think of creative ways to engage with my mentees and to make bewells more fun and interesting Also with covid protocols there are a lot of things we can't do anymore that we could in the past so coming up with new ways to socialize and get to know one another was challenging at times

Being creative is something i developed as a mentor This was particuarly prevalent in the mentor camp we conducted prior to Welcoming week We had to come up with team names, create our ultimate mentor, do team bonding activites that required us to think on our feet, and be creative In doing all of this, my creativity levels have strengthened I think creativity is also vital to keep people on their toes, keep everything fresh, and keep people engaged This is something we emphasisied as a leadership body, and it was successful

I have always been a very creative person I was in charge of my section in Residence's decorating, and had to think of practical ways to do so creatively on a very tight budget, as I did not want to ask for an unreasonable amount of money from my section members should it be exceeded I really had to learn how to take my creative ideas and make them practical and achievable

At times the 'set' way of how we had been instructed to do the job seemed in efficient in effectively helping my mentees This includes things such as the proposed structure of BeWells as i found it was not always suited to my specific mentee group I found my creativity improved as came up with my own ideas to avail myself as more effective in engaging with my mentees

Reflections 2021

Mentor Reflections per Topic as Reported by the Mentors of Metanoia

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