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Anthea

BSc (Hons) International Business Management with Placement

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I personally found being a Peer Mentor really enriching socially. You’re helping others while meeting new people from diverse backgrounds, doing activities, all while gaining valuable skills which can be really useful to add to your CV.

Being a Peer Mentor

As an international student, I know what it is like to feel lost when you get to Newcastle. You’re starting a new chapter of your life, going to university in a foreign country, with a different education system than yours, in a totally unknown environment. It is super stressful. I didn’t have the chance to have someone who would guide me through all of that when I got here. I had to do it all by myself and even though I managed to, it wasn’t always easy. I learned a lot of things about Newcastle only when I got into second year. This is why I wanted to become a Peer Mentor, I wanted to make people save time, feel supported and guide them to the right people instead of wondering “Where am I supposed to go? Who should I reach out to?”

As a Peer Mentor, I try to be present for my mentees in various ways. I organise campus tours, informal meetings in coffee shops, 1-to-1 meetings. The whole point is getting to know each other and be there for your mentees. From their Peer Mentor, mentees should expect support, attention, and respect. They should expect their Peer Mentor to reach them out during the first semester and arrange various informal meetups.

Benefits of being a Peer Mentor

I think the main transferable skill I have developed as a Peer Mentor would be cultural awareness. Not everyone reacts the same way to emails, or meetings.  Some people simply feel like they do not need this support, and this is totally fine, Others rely more heavily on it. For the people who do, they may react differently. It is important to understand how the mentee feels and how to react in alignment with both their culture and the British one. As Peer Mentors, we help mentees to link the two cultures and provide opportunities to ease the transition. We help them to learn how to integrate themselves into the Newcastle lifestyle.

I would say to anyone thinking of being a Peer Mentor to just go for it! I personally found it really enriching socially and it did not require much of my time. You’re helping others while meeting new people from diverse backgrounds, doing activities you may normally do, all while gaining valuable skills, which can be really useful in the future and interesting to add to your CV. So yes, go for it! It is all about doing what’s right, while having fun!