Aimee
Dental Surgery BDS
Being a Peer Mentor is so worth it! Taking a group of first years under your wing and providing support you would have valued in your first year is so rewarding.
Being a Peer Mentor
I decided to become a Peer Mentor for various reasons. Firstly, I wanted to help make a difference to new students in their first year of my course by helping them to settle into university by being an informal source of advice and support. Secondly, I wanted to gain some valuable people skills and the confidence to give advice and share tips, which is such a key skill to develop especially as a healthcare student ahead of talking to patients. I wanted to gain some confidence and learn from the lovely feedback I got from my sweet mentees.
As a Peer Mentor, I act as a friendly figure to a group of new students, helping them navigate the transition to life at university. I provide support and guidance, especially during high-pressure times where I can alleviate the worry of messaging a clinician or a lecturer they don’t know very well.
From a Peer Mentor a mentee can expect a kind, friendly, personable older student who is always willing to provide help, however big or small, a person who went through exactly what they’re going through now and a small support network and an outlet for any queries or concerns.
Benefits of being a Peer Mentor
As a Peer Mentor, I have developed various transferable skills, including meeting and talking comfortably with strangers, relationship building and giving professional advice.
The role has also increased my confidence in my progress in my degree – seeing how far I’ve come since being where my mentees are and being able to instil in them the determination and resilience I’ve learned and developed since moving to university. It is so rewarding to see mentees do really well and thank you for all of your support when you’ve put in time and effort into helping them – you definitely get back what you put in.
Being a Peer Mentor is so worth it! Taking a group of first years under your wing and providing support you would have valued in your first year is so rewarding, especially seeing them succeed in assessments and being really happy at university. It’s so important to give back to your department who work so hard to make sure you feel supported. The mentor scheme is set up to make sure you have a myriad of people you are comfortable with which is invaluable in the hard move to university, both with course work and living somewhere new.
My nomination for Peer Mentor of the Year was so surprising and I was so honoured to be nominated for the award knowing it was due to comments from my own mentees. I set out to provide help and advice and allow people to learn from my strengths and mistakes in first year but knowing that I was really influential in some students’ first semester is really touching. It gave me a world of confidence that even during tough points of my degree when I feel academically challenged, there are bigger, more important things to life – sharing positivity, kindness, supporting each other, looking out for people, it was always something that I could do thoroughly and well. I am thankful for the opportunity to be a Mentor.