Reflections 2021

Mentor Reflections per Topic as Reported by the Mentors of Erica

What was your experience of Welcoming?

My experience of welcoming week was phenomenal and I say that because it was both full of positives but also had some slightly negative aspects. The reason these don't deter and actually added to the experience was because I learned so much from them. Welcoming was a time where I felt challenged as a mentor emotionally mentally and physically; but also emboldened: what I mean by this is that there where moments where I really felt confident in my abilities and that my decision to try for mentor was not ill placed. I found that I really enjoyed preparing for the sessions and learning from them. The daily reflections actually really helped with this. My experience is that the mentor sessions really became a place where we could have focused discussions but also just general conversations. There were moments where I felt that I wasn't equipped to help me mentees. Going from 5 to now 10 mentees seemed daunting but looking back I would not want to change anything. Welcoming week as a mentor is something I will cherish with me forever. As much as I hope I helped my mentees they probably don't know how much they helped me- because this week was really a time where I grew.

Welcoming week was definitely a rollercoaster of emotions. This week consisted of a lot of laughs tears power naps an extreme amount of walking and definitely plenty of fun. Going into Welcoming I was not quite sure what to expect. The nerves definitely got to me leading up to the newcomers move in day. I was worried that they wouldn't like me or that they wouldn't want to confide in me. On the other hand I was so excited to experience Welcoming Week from a different perspective and wanted to try and make it as special for my mentees as it was for me. Move in day was extremely overwhelming for me. I knew that I had to exude a positive compassionate and friendly attitude as it is essential for connecting with your mentees from the very beginning. My 3 mentees that moved in don't have the same home language as myself and I was scared that I wouldn't be able to communicate with them properly. I was also seriously anxious that the language barrier would restrict the connection and bond that we would form. Over the week we all grew to know each other really well and they all made a concerted effort to talk to me in my home language English. I became more comfortable being my true self and felt confident enough to open up to my mentees and tell them more personal information about myself. Fortunately they reciprocated the feelings and I was able to learn so much about their backgrounds and upbringings. I think we all grew to look forwards to our chats at the end of a long day. I received two new mentees during Welcoming Week and my other mentees welcomed them into our group with open arms. I was seriously impressed with all of my mentees and their overall enthusiasm. They are a bunch of high-spirited girls willing to listen and learn. Their participation in the Welcoming Week exceeded all my expectations and made me incredibly proud. They were all so eager to get involved and meet new people. This week had its highs and lows but the highs definitely outweighed the lows. I will cherish all these beautiful special moments for the rest of my life. This was such an amazing opportunity to develop lasting relationships with the other mentors and house committee members as well as start the meaningful relationships with my mentees that will hopefully only continue to get stronger moving forward.

My experience of Welcoming was that it was an extreme amount of fun combined with an extreme amount of lessons learned. I thoroughly enjoyed Welcoming week since it was the last one I could participate in. I also really loved the week before Welcoming where we prepared the res and ourselves for the first-years' arrival. Our relationship as fellow mentors grew especially close during this time.The arrival of the first years on the first day of Welcoming was a definite highlight. It was amazing to finally meet my mentees! I had to move out of my comfort zone a little bit to make them feel welcome because I can be a bit shy at first. Welcoming in 2021 was definitely different but still effective. Socials were scarce but the few we had where utterly enjoyed. I think the first years appreciated the fact that they could still do Vensters and they gave their all! The critical engagement sessions were very necessary and educational. They were always a hot topic of conversation in our mentor sessions. The activities that the HK arranged for us were also so well thought through and I (and I am sure the first years did too!) loved participating in them.The mentor sessions that we had during Welcoming were vital - in terms of informing and bonding. We had some of the best bonding times during our mentor sessions especially during times of being vulnerable. I sometimes found myself talking to my mentees about things important mental health topics that I had not discussed with other people before. I wished we could have even more mentor sessions during Welcoming. It was incredible to see how my mentees grew during that short period of Welcoming. Some of them made amazing friends in a snapshot while others were extremely shy and withdrawn at the start and grew to be comfortable and themselves by the end of it. I could literally see them growing as people right before my eyes. I also feel like the first-year group as a whole bonded really well this year and I think this might be owing to the fact that we didn't have many socials with other residences and had lots of socials within Erica. I feel like I also made a lot of new friends out of the newcomers. I think I also grew so much during this Welcoming period. There were lots of times where I had to push through the tiredness and still give my all. There were times where I had to be patient and there were many times where I could feel myself becoming a more empathetic person.I was devastated to have to let two of my mentees go by the end of Welcoming. They had received the opportunity to move to the Tygerberg campus. I still kept in touch with them and it seems like they are flourishing over there which I am thankful for. We (our whole mentor group) miss them a lot though!Naturally I can't talk about Welcoming without mentioning the immense role that my fellow mentors and our head mentor played during that time. Support actually doesn't even begin to describe it. They were there for me 24/7. I could as

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?

I would like to think that what I added in an overall sense was aimed kind of grounding. Someone that was there no matter the mood of the day or the topic of the conversation. I feel as though I was able to remain a constant throughout their o week and even now. I think that being a second year who also still feels relatively new to the idea of university made me someone that they could relate to but still go to for help. Overall my goal was to always lift their spirits and guide them positively without dismissing their feelings. I feel as though I was able to do that. Because I had mentees joining at different stages of welcoming and still mentees joining now I think that I would have added something different depending on the individual. For some it would be a more personal relationship whereas for others I was simply someone who was there for advice and help- I feel so so happy that I was able to be both.

Looking back on my mentoring experience last year when I was a first year I believe that the area that my mentor added the most value to my university experience was definitely the academic side. University is so different from high-school in terms of the curriculum testing methods and even style of teaching and studying. Without my mentors knowledge I would've been completely clueless on my first day of classes. I ended up being the top first year Civil Engineering student last year and I know for a fact that I couldn't have achieved that without her help and advice. Therefore I wanted to give my mentees the same academic information that I got during Welcoming Week. I personally believe that the most helpful part of being a mentor to my mentees was the academic information and tips that I could give them. They are all really independent strong young ladies and I knew that in terms of emotional support they won't need me too much. That is why I also wanted to show them how much I can help in terms of their academics as I know how important their grades are to them. I gave them as many tips and tricks as I possibly could. I explained to them how to navigate SUNLearn what they should do each week in terms of lectures and tutorials as well as what test week is. We also went through each module and I explained to them my preferred ways of studying and note taking methods for each one. I could read see how grateful and appreciative they were for all the information that I gave them and I know they found it all really helpful.

Firstly I believe that I was a very welcoming face when they entered Erica. I was so excited to finally meet them that I was smiling from ear to ear on the day that they moved in and I think that made a good first impression on them. Because we had made contact with our mentees before they arrived at university I think it was nice for them to see my familiar face on the first day. I was the friend that they needed when no one else was around or when they didn't really know anyone that well yet. They could ask me any type of question (sometimes people are too scared to ask a question because it might be a dumb question - I encouraged my mentees to ask me anything they wanted to know about university and they did) and I would be more than willing to answer it. I helped my shy mentees to climb out of their comfort zone a little bit by introducing them to people and into conversations. I acted as someone they could confide in by just always being available and there for them and listening without judging. I was consistently looking out for them and if they looked off during Welcoming I made sure to check in on them. I could give them the advice they needed to hear (this sometimes being the advice they didn't want to hear but HAD to hear). I was a shoulder for them to cry on I always listened earnestly to their problems and I tried to give the best advice that I could.From a technical point of view I helped them to adjust to the online university life by helping them register connect to wifi and printers showing them how Sunlearn works and helping them with all their other admin queries.I believe that the mentor sessions that we had during Welcoming were vital. I think that I created a safe environment for my mentees in the mentor sessions where they could be open and vulnerable and where we could discuss significant topics together.