Get to know the "Mentorship Society"
To welcome new students, IE has established an initiative recently renamed to Mentorship Society, which assigns incoming students with a mentor to ease their transition into university. In an interview for The Stork, I sat down with Anna Lown, the Mentorship Society Coordinator & Head Mentor, to discuss the changes of the program and why students should become involved with it.
To begin with, could you please explain what the Mentorship Society is?
The Mentorship Society is a community of students whose purpose is helping freshmen to adapt academically and socially, but also integrate into university life. The idea is to smooth their transition out of secondary school and into higher education. It is a platform for students to know one another across boundaries of programs, classes, and different years of study.
I understand that the Mentorship Society name is brand new. Why did you decide to rename the program and how was it called before?
The change is something that Taiki, the Director of the Mentoring & Counseling Office, and I have been thinking about for over a year. It was previously called the Mentorship Program and the reason why we changed is that we have seen very clearly how many students who participated did not end their mentor-mentee relationships when the program ended. For example, a lot of times people would come up to us and say: “I am still in touch with my mentor two years later,” or, “now they are my best friend.” We wanted to acknowledge that the initiative is more about the sense of community and not a program that you enter, participate in, and then complete.
Another change that we made was the addition of the mentor leaders, who are on the organizational end. These students support the mentors, but they also coordinate very closely with Taiki and I in terms of decision making. It’s been a fruitful interaction and having that student input makes the whole experience better.
So in that note, what can current students offer to the newcomers?
The mentor is somebody who can provide a first point of contact, but also someone who can help mentees find the resources they may need within the university. This could be telling them whether they have an academic advisor, where to add credit to their ID card, or even referring them back to Taiki and myself for counselling purposes if they are having a difficult transition.
Speaking of difficult transitions, mentors can be a source of emotional support, but where do you draw the line on a Mentor’s responsibilities?
I think that the mentor is a source of support only as much as he or she is willing to be that. If the mentorship relationship evolves into a friendship, the rules change and there is a feeling of mutual support in that sense. A mentor can be a support system inasmuch as what is normal to expect in the transition to university: a bit of homesickness, insecurities, self-doubt, or anxiety. However, if it gets to a point where there is a more significant sort of distress, then we make it very clear to the mentors that they can always refer them back to us if necessary. Those are quite rare cases, but we do like to make sure that the support system is there.
Another issue that some mentors have encountered is the rapid disengagement between them and their mentees. Has the mentorship society changed in any way to adapt to this?
Last year we stayed with a one semester long time frame with the understanding that not all mentoring relationships continue in time. After a couple of years, we have seen that most mentees separate from their mentors after the first few weeks. What we have changed for this year is that most events will happen during the first six weeks of the semester, when mentees still want to meet new people. As it gets to the midterm period, we will let those relationships continue independently.
Lastly, can you tell us a bit about the application process?
Yes, the first step is to submit an online application through our website before this Friday, March 9th. We are especially still looking for applicants on the Madrid campus! Some students may be called in for an in-person interview, simply to clarify any doubts we may have about their application. The final results will be announced on Friday March 23rd, right before Spring Break. The competition can be tough, so we really look carefully at the applications; we want to know who you are and why you are applying. In mentors, for instance, we look for people who want to give back and who actively seek out meeting new people.
To apply as a mentor or mentor leader CLICK HERE
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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