Becoming a College S2S Mentor and Tips for Freshmen

Hi friends, hope we’re all keeping well.

I recently joined my college’s Student 2 Student programme as a mentor, which I figured I would talk about.

The programme was basically set up to help incoming first year college students settle into college life, by linking them up with 2nd year student mentors in the same course as them. They would basically be their first ‘go-to’ person when looking for advice on their course, college services, campus, and other trivial college-related issues. They would also make sure the student isn’t completely isolated, and makes sure to introduce them to other 1st years in the same course.

The initiative sounded interesting, and remembering how much my own S2S mentor helped me settle into my course and college life, decided to sign up.

And lo and behold, I got accepted! I have already finished one of their training sessions, and have one more top up training to do in the summer before I become a full-fledged S2S mentor.

So, in preparation for my S2S students who I’ll be assigned at the start of next semester, i want to also use this post to outline some advice and suggestions I would give to incoming first year college students!

1. You need to be resourceful✅. I won’t lie to them, but most of their lecturers are not going to be the best. Their way of explaining certain concepts might confuse them at first, and lead to them not understanding anything from a lecture. Therefore, I believe the number one skill necessary for incoming college students is resourcefulness. Unfortunately, going to have to teach yourself a lot of different things, so it’s important to know where to look for these teaching materials , and how to teach yourself it. For business students, Investopedia has been a phenomenal resource I’ve used to understand many business-related concepts this year. YouTube, Khan Academy, Skillshare etc are other resources I have used to teach myself things, but a lot of the time you can also just use some random websites that pop up on your first Google search of the topic 👍🏼
2. Join clubs and societies🤝 College is not just for learning, but it’s also for forming new relationships. I’ve met so many interesting and fun people by just joining different societies, it’s insane. Unfortunately I haven’t been to any sports clubs, but I aim to change that next year. I highly, highly recommend checking out societies/clubs that align with your interests, and just checking out at least one of their sessions. If they’re not your vibe, fair enough. But please at least attend one session, before casting judgement! Make sure to foster these relationships, network with new people, and have fun doing so!
3. Do not fall behind😥While I already recommend getting immersed in college life with societies, clubs, and friends etc, still ensure you’re up to date with what you’re learning. Complete your assignments at least one or two days before the due date, revise your notes at the end of the day, and genuinely do do some amount of study for tests and exams. This is the college course you’ll be doing for the next few years, it’s important to get the basics and foundation right. I honestly do regret not studying more for exams, and wish I had spent more time delving into my course a bit more, so do make sure you don’t fall behind!

And that’s it for the advice I would give incoming 1st year college students, or junior fresh. Above all, I would just say to remember how far you’ve come that you’re in college now, and do your best to make the most out of it!