Shoulda had a mentor

In a recent press release, the University of Winnipeg announced they are looking for university students to work as mentors for first-year university students.

While in the past the mentor program has only been for international students, in the next academic year domestic students can make use of the program as well.

My basic understanding of the program is that it partners students who are new to university with an experienced student who can help them navigate the twists and turns of post-secondary life.

According to the job description, the job of the mentor is to basically make life a little easier for new students and to help them integrate into university life by filling them in on things like how to by books at the bookstore, showing them where to go to get a bus pass, helping them use the library resources and locating classrooms.

Thinking back to my first year of university, I could have avoided a lot of awkward situations had I had a mentor to guide me.

For instance, I likely wouldn’t have sat through 10 minutes of what I thought was my very first class but turned out to be the wrong room if I had someone show me where all my classrooms were a couple of days before. Having a class of 35 third- and fourth-year students roll their eyes at me when I got up and mumbled that I was looking for an English class, not a philosophy class, did little to boost my confidence.

As well, I probably wouldn’t have wasted so many hours screwing around with the library website if I had someone to show me how to properly locate a certain text or use different databases to maximize search results.

While I know that the university has tons of people who can easily help with things like this, it really would have been nice to have another student teach me the tricks of the trade.

For me, coming to a big city and a big school from a teeny rural community was a really tough transition. I think I would have benefited immensely if I had someone to call up with as many dumb questions as I wanted – someone who likely did all the same stupid things I did as a naive first-year.

I think it is great the university is expanding the mentor program to accommodate domestic students. University can be a daunting experience for everyone– anything to make the transition easier and reduce stress for first-years can only be a good thing.