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BSc (Hons) Psychology with Professional Placement

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If you’re thinking of being a Peer Mentor, I would say go for it! It’s not a massive time commitment but it equips you with a load of skills that are applicable for post-university life.

Being a Peer Mentor

Throughout my academic career, I have been lucky to have had a number of excellent mentors who have guided me through my degree course. These people had a profound impact on my confidence and skills as a Psychology student. One that sticks out was my own Peer Mentor in first year, who guided our mentee group through what was initially quite an anxiety provoking time. I wanted to give back, and so I decided to become a Peer Mentor, in the hopes that I could emulate my previous mentor and act as a support for those who are new to university life.

My main role as a Peer Mentor was to attend a weekly workshop session, where we would support the Staff Coordinator in the delivery of a number of sessions which taught the basics of academic skills to our mentees. Most of the sessions included group discussions, helping mentees with any questions they had, and generally using my experience as a final year to guide them. Outside of these sessions I tried to be available so that if the mentees had any problems, they could ask for advice, both academic and personal - anything from marking criteria and essay writing advice to how to find a house for second year.

Mentees can expect from a Peer Mentor someone who provides a kind and non-judgmental form of support. Sometimes people feel intimidated about getting support, academic or otherwise, through the university directly, and so a Peer Mentor should be a friendly face who is easy to approach. I also think they are someone honest. As third year students, we do not know everything and from my experience, my mentees appreciated me being upfront about this! But, at the same time, it is someone that can use their experience to guide and reassure their mentees.

 

Benefits of being a Peer Mentor

I think the main transferable skill I have developed is leadership. This is one of the first opportunities I’ve had to do things like facilitate group discussions, help lead sessions and work directly with those who have less experience than myself. At first, I must admit I found this quite intimidating, but as time went on, I settled into this role and my relationships with my mentees became stronger, and we worked together to try and make their university experience as enriching as possible.

If you’re thinking of being a Peer Mentor, I would say go for it! It’s not a massive time commitment but it equips you with a load of skills that are applicable for post-university life. It is a chance to make the university experience easier for the first years, and to make a positive impact on the new generation of psychology students at Newcastle. I found it extremely rewarding and found that the weekly sessions with my mentees were often a highlight of my week.

I’m not very good at receiving praise generally but receiving the award of FMS Peer Mentor of the Year was really special. Seeing the comments that my mentees left was really lovely. I’m just glad that I could be useful to them and hope to continue being a point of contact for them for the rest of the year. It was also nice being able to celebrate at the Peer Mentor Thank You event with some of my fellow Peer Mentors – I have made some strong friendships with the other mentors which I hope will continue post university.