Welcome to our first guest blog, we plan to do more of these this year with information being provided from different areas of the University of Exeter. If this is something you would be interested to take part in or have any ideas, please contact the Accommodation Office by emailing SID to express your interest. It’s now over to two of our current Residence Life Team Mentors to give you an insight into the role. Accommodation Catherine
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About a week ago, we were asked to write a blog post on the theme of ‘What Being a Mentor Means to Us’. While we’ve been doing this role for the past 4 months, this was the first time that we really thought about what we like about it – what makes us want to come back to it next academic year. What we discovered wasn’t quite what we had expected.
The most obvious perk associated with being a Residence Life Mentor is the weekly discount we get off accommodation. While this is obviously a great benefit, surprisingly enough, it was nowhere near the top of our list!
One of the greatest things about being a Mentor (we both agree) is the fact that it opens you up to a whole lot of new people. Within the past 4 months, we have met about a hundred new first years each – our mentees. But aside from this, we have met another 30-odd amazing people who work with us – the Mentors and Team Leaders of the Yellow Life Team. There’s also the Red Life Team that we met during Training Week and we share a healthy rivalry with! (The end of Training Week also brought with it a free celebration buffet that witnessed perfect attendance.)
Meeting all of these different people makes you break out of your comfort zone and learn to accept and interact with all sorts of crowds. It also makes you feel like you’re a part of something much bigger than yourself – a feeling that is much needed when you’re so far away from home.
Another aspect of the role that we have come to appreciate over the months is the fact that being a Mentor has made us the go-to person for all the happening events around campus. We know what’s happening, where and how good it will be – and that’s something we love. It’s almost like being a superhero!
Finally, some of the more practical advantages of being a Mentor include flexible and short working hours (just 5 hours a week) and work experience that reflects well on your CV.
We think that it is the combination of all of these features (but mainly the fun ones) are what make mentoring really worth the effort.
Shakara and Srimoyee – Yellow Team Mentors
If you are interested in becoming a Residence Life Team Mentor, applications are now being received. For further information please visit the Residence Life Team webpages.