Become a Better First Year Student: Mentorship Plus!

First off I’d like to give a shout out to my friend who came on my tour last Saturday March 24 at noon, who said she reads my blog. That was really exciting for me to hear so thanks for making my day!!!!!

First year of university is kind of a weird year. Both exciting and anxiety-provoking, stressful and free, crowded and lonely all at the same time. Looking back on my first year of university, I feel a mix of emotions. On the one hand I miss the “newness” of it – the thrill of living on my own for the first time, all the new friends I made and all the social activities that were right at my fingertips. On the other hand I’m glad it’s over! Much like going into high school for the first time in grade 9, first year is all about establishing yourself and it’s nice when that stage is finally over.

Mentorship Plus is a program run at Brock in partnership with both Career Services and Alumni Relations, and it can help improve your transition from high school to Brock! It began in the Fall of 2008 with a goal of getting 4500 students involved in the program by 2014. My first year at Brock was only the second year of the program, and I (sadly) did not join – I highly regret this decision! It would have made my transition to Brock a lot smoother. And here’s why:

Mentorship Plus provides support and encouragement to first year students by matching them up with an upper year student with the same area of study, interests, and goals as them. The upper year student can serve as a role model and friend to the first year student, giving them tips, advice, and sharing stories and experiences about being a Brock student. On the academic side, the mentor can help the mentee with time management, choosing courses and professors, and ways to get involved in student life.

The cool thing about Mentorship Plus is that you can continue to be involved long after first year. You can choose to become a mentor yourself, or you can sign up to be mentored by a Brock Alumnus who is currently working in a career path that you would be interested in once you graduate. Your mentor can then give you tips and tricks of the field so that when you graduate you are little more prepared for the big bad “real world.”

So get involved in Mentorship Plus! It’s a great way to make a new friend and get the insider scoop on how to be the best First Year student you can be.

If you have any questions about the program, you can contact Mentorship Plus at: mentoring@brocku.ca or call 905-688-5550 x4853