Reflections 2021

Mentor Reflections per Topic as Reported by the Mentors of Helshoogte

What was your experience of Welcoming?

This Welcoming in which my role was a mentor was considerably different from the one I experienced before as a newcomer. Firstly the responsibility that came with my position created an extra dimension to process. Now I was accountable to my fellow welcoming leaders as well as to the newcomers who all wanted the best possible beginning to University. This came with longer hours more organization meetings and matters I had to see to. Although this was challenging and pushed me out of my comfort zone I greatly value this for the benefit it had on my personal growth and improvement as a person.Secondly the emotional impact this Welcoming had one me was from a different perspective. Now seeing the newcomers arrive at our residence and become a part of our family created a great sense of pride in me for them and our residence. Activities that we merely seen as fun by me last welcoming now had a personal aspect and evoked strong feelings of attachment. All in all this experience was very enriching to me and what I have learnt will help me significantly in the future.

In a nutshell this was quite an experience for me because i missed my orientation because i arrived late. Not only was i a leader I also took part in the activities as i was experiencing the program for the first time.I am so glad i got this opportunity. In relation to the newcomersI got to meet a lot of new faces from different walks of life and bonded with them. Mostly important is the growth i saw from the moment of moving into Res to the point after wellcoming.I liked the morning coffees to catchup about how the next person slept. It brings a sense of brotherhood and a community that values relationships.

Welcoming was great as I did not get to fully experience it in my first year. It was busy and in moments explosive. It felt good knowing you are part of someone's welcoming experience and hold the power to make or break it.

Each new day was better then the previous and the first years grew with every moment as well. The program had its ups and downs but mostly positive feedback on the movement of the events.The beginning of welcoming was mostly everywhere with the first years moving in and the end of training. First years were quiet at first but with the days passing they started to find their rhythm and became more relaxed throughout the rest of welcoming.

In one word - hectic ;)I honestly didn't think that welcoming during an international pandemic could be so much fun! I was expecting a considerably dumbed down experience when compared to ours but was happily surprised.I was also very glad to see that the mentors were treated as equals and part of the residence leadership structure apparently in the past this was not the case..I formed new friendships with the HK and fellow mentors during welcoming. Once the newcomers were moved into res in the first 2 days of welcoming we were especially busy we had assembly every morning on the tokkie at 6:45 and debriefing sessions until late in the evening. There were many more opportunities for skakels than originally expected our newcomers got to skakel with sonop nerina monica and a few others. Our culture evening at Monica this year was brilliant it was both entertaining and interesting without being too cringy. Halfbergklim was as expected one of the highlights of welcoming really awesome to experience it from the mentor point of view the pride and passion was almost palpable. Hempies and hoedjies was postponed this year due to many newcomers not exhibiting the necessary values (going out before bergklim and practising high-risk behaviour). I was rescheduled to Friday and was an awesome success despite some glitches along the way. Floorday as the last event before the academic year commenced was also very lekker great opportunity to bond with the 1st years and treat them to some good pizza and fun as a cherry on the cake for welcoming

Welcoming was a different experience this year due to the impact of Covid. Having been involved in two welcoming programmes it was clear that Covid definitely put a dampener on welcoming and what could be done during that time.Overall welcoming was a good experience despite the difficulties presented by the circumstances it was successful and enjoyed by all.The first years were very enthusiastic and excited to be in a new environment. We received a large number of first years and that made things trickier in order to adhere to Covid protocols and thus we split most if not all activities into two groups. This meant a little cohesion and cloesness within the group was lost but we managed non-the-less and looking at the group now it doesn't seem to have had a negative impact on them.This welcoming period will always be remembered as the Covid welcoming period but it is a testament to ourselves and the University that all/most of the events were still held even if slightly different due to the circumstances. Even in unprecedented times we tried to keep things the same so that the newcomers could have the best experience possible and I think we exceeded expectations.

For someone who couldn't attend their own orientation it an opportunity to relive that moment and appreciate it. I have come to understand the different backgrounds and the cultural diversity in the group and I can only hope to learn more from this group.

It was amazing but tiring as we got to watch as the newcomers become full-fledged members of the Helshoogte family while showing them the different aspects of our residence.

In your opinion, what was the most helpful aspect of being a mentor to your mentees - how did you add value to their university experience?

As I recall my experience of being a mentee in the previous Welcoming I remember the significant role my mentors played in creating a homely atmosphere and a space conducive for me to fit into the residence and University. For this reason I know the extent of the role and impact that mentors play in the welcoming experience and overall adjustment to university life. My mentors were not perfect in their roles so my aim was to replicate all their good aspects and improve on the aspects that I felt could have been done better. My first aim was to create a welcoming environment for the newcomers so as to feel a part of this new community into which they have entered. From the responses I received I have surety that my friendliness was very evident. Secondly I educated myself so as to be informed of the technicalities of entering university life. With this I was able to help the newcomers with all their concerns and matters that they needed to sort out before term started. This gave them peace of mind and easy of transition into their courses. My third objective was to share my experience of transition into university life and advice for them to make their transition as smooth and impactful as possible. As part of this I have also made a en effort and will continue to make an effort to build relationships with my mentees where they feel comfortable to approach me with any concern they might have.

Helping them move in.I am a strong believer of first impression and creating a welcoming mood as soon as they moved into Res with their bags was by far the most helpful aspect.From then onwards the mentees will know that they have a big brother who will always be there for them and willing to give a hand and always wearing a smile.My value was added was making sure i explained fully what activities were coming up and where so they never felt lost or confused. Also the mentor sessions allowed me to get to know them on a personal level.This added to the activities we had on the program gave the mentees a more wholesome university experience.

Making the mentees experience enjoyable and worthwhile but also insightful.

Helping them to move in showed we care and that the university/residence welcomes them with open arms.Greeting with warmth and a positive mindset to set an example of how thing are at the university.Some key points from the training helped to keep them calm and to explain high value points them for example how to set achievable goals and what to do during awkward moments where they didn't know what to do.

I like to think back to my welcoming experience to compare the two. I would say I am always keen to help even though I may not have the info or the know-how to help I can connect the mentee to someone who can.I am constantly striving to elude positivity and the character of my saviour Jesus Christ in all things I do. I am a good listener and take a genuine interesting in the wellbeing of my mentees.

The most helpful aspect of being a mentor to your mentees is to be present and available for them.The worst is having a mentor that is new around you can't contact them and therefore they aren't present to help you when required. Therefore I strive to be available to my mentees always and to have an open-door policy so that they can always approach me. I think this is vitally important as it allows you to be a good mentor and for mentees to approach you when they have issues.I feel I added value to their university experience by helping them acclimatize to their new environment learn things and settle in well. It helps greatly when one moves into a new environment to have someone guiding and helping you along the way and I feel I assisted my mentees greatly in this regard.

It was always being there for them. Many times they are sem lost or confused and one's presence as a mentee can help to get the id of that. bringing my energy and enthusiasm to the table was my goal and I managed to achieve that.

Mentors act as medium through which the newcomers can get a glimpse on different peoples' university experience. And this adds value as it helps ease the newcomers into this new and unknown environment.