The good, the bad and... the ugly; A mentors view.

The following post was written by one of our mentors in the HSS faculty. This blog gives an insight into how sometimes a mentoring experience can be an unpleasant one. She talks about how she dealt with it and why it wasn't the end of her involvement in the scheme. 

I am a mature post graduate student who is studying an MSc in Forensic Psychology. I became a postgraduate mentor in March 2015 and have to say I think it’s a fantastic scheme one that I know I would have benefited from when I was an undergraduate student. I really enjoy meeting people and helping them achieve their goals. However I feel that I should share my first experience as a mentor with you all…………….as they are not always pleasant!

Luckily I am a very outgoing bubbly individual!! When I was given my matches (mentees) I set about contacting them straight away. I arranged meetings and created files for all of my mentees. My first meeting was arranged on the same day that I had attended the mentor coaching session. Quite excited if not a little apprehensive I went along to my first meeting. However I was met by a male mature student who from the outset expressed that he was fighting against time because he was working on an assignment that was due in on Friday this was Thursday lunch time. He asked if I could go away and come back in an hour to proof read his work. I was a bit taken back as he then stressed that he had no interest in the mentor scheme and just needed me to proof read his assignment. At this stage I realised that he was quite angry and he became quite abrupt in his approach to me. He shouted at me saying that he had travelled all the way from Bedford because he was told that he would be meeting someone that would be proof reading his work. At this stage he was stood up from his seat my only choice was to try and defuse the situation. I advised the man that I was sorry that he had interpreted the purpose of the scheme incorrectly. Leading to him receiving incorrect information regarding the scheme and that his best option would probably be to visit PAD; I apologised for his wasted journey and asked if there was anything else that I could do for him. He gathered his belongings and shouted angrily at me as he left the building. I have to say with this being my first experience as a mentor it could have quite easily been my last. Having attended the provided coaching session with Claire Burgess earlier that day, I was most grateful for the information that was provided as it gave me some skills that better equipped me to deal with such a situation. 

Luckily that afternoon I had arranged to meet another student, thankfully this meeting was very successful and I have met with this lady a few times best of all my guidance has allowed her to improve her grades for which she is very grateful. I wish I had started this scheme earlier. I would have liked to have met more mentees and played a hand in helping more people achieve their goals!

From a mentees perspective of being mentored

The following blog was written by one of our undergraduates from the Health and Social Science Faculty (HSS) on her experience as a mentee in the programme so far. 

When the opportunity of having a mentor presented itself I took full advantage of the prospect. I was assigned to my first mentor in November/December who was lovely but unfortunately there seemed to be barriers to getting together on a regular basis. I lead a very busy life and our timetables just did not seem to be compatible.

I met my second mentor in early February and we hit it off immediately. We went through the pack and worked out my strengths and weakness and a timetable that suited both of us when we could meet weekly. I think regular meetings, if possible are important to keep the continuity going and I have come to the conclusion that I need this. My mentor soon got the measure of me! She could see what I needed and I was very honest of my expectations of myself, what I struggled with and needed guidance on. You have to be realistic in your expectations of both yourself and your mentor for this union to work.

In our first sessions she shared with me the fundamentals of getting a good grade and what I had to do to achieve this. Organisation is the key to success and this is something my mentor has identified that I need to focus on. The fact was I did not know how to do this in an academic way so that was a very valuable lesson I have learnt.

Having someone knowable discussing your assessment criteria with you is so advantageous and helpful as they see ways of improving your content in a way that you had not thought of as it is the little extras that get the increased marks and higher grades. Already my work is improving; pointers are being made as to what can be developed further to achieve a better standard of work.

I cannot praise my mentor enough, she is kind and encouraging, emphatic and always patient with me something I am not with myself! I feel I have found a friend and always look forward to our meetings. For me this has been a wonderful experience that I will recommend to other students and I have, long may it continue so others may benefit in the way I have.

My initial experiences as a mentor...

Our first blog post is from one of our postgraduate mentors from the Business School who has been mentoring since November 2014.

"The experiences I have had as a mentor so far have been a mix of good experiences as well as some challenges, of which I have been able to learn from. To start with, I was assigned my first mentee in late November/early December and the initial problem I encountered was actually trying to contact him to arrange a meeting together. He is a very busy student and has a high amount of engagement in extra-curricular activities outside of the university, so to actually arrange the first meeting with him was incredibly difficult.

When we were able to have our first meeting I discovered a lot about my mentees strengths, weaknesses, motivations and character. The starter pack really assisted in discovering how strong or weak each of these aspects were, not only for my first, but also for my second mentee. I found that both my mentees were 3rd year students which really helped as there are a lot of transferable skills which can be applied in dissertation writing and considering the fact that they are both in their final year, my mentees are also completing a project management unit (which I also completed in my final year along with me doing a Project Management MSc). This helps me in helping them as I know what they are to expect.

In saying this, my mentees strengths and weaknesses are vastly disparate and so far they range from needing help with assignment structure, understanding assignment criteria and assistance with time management. I have run through exercises with both mentees which involve analysing feedback from an assignment and understanding why they were given the grade they were and where they can improve the next time so they can learn from previous mistakes made.

As part of mentoring training, I attended a critical thinking session which gave me an idea for an exercise I planned and delivered the next week with one of my mentees, although it is more important at masters level, I am encouraging her to look for areas within her essays now to think a little bit more about how she can incorporate this into her assignments as she is planning to join a master’s degree when she graduates. 

Communication has still been a problem with my first mentee as over Christmas he was extremely ill and has been in and out of hospital since. Overall the satisfaction of helping someone else when I have been in a similar situation is very gratifying and both of my mentees are always so appreciative of the assistance.

More recently I have had much more work myself to complete and haven’t been able to arrange regular meetings but I am back on track this week and trying to arrange meetings with both mentees (one of which I have now booked a session with).

It has been a brilliant experience so far and I am more than happy to assist them in maximising their academic potential to get everything they want out of the university and life."