College Students Make Great Mentors

As National Mentoring Month comes to an end we cannot forget our college student mentors.  William, an applied math undergrad, talked with our program coordinator June last month.  He currently mentors  in Algebra 2 at Castlemont and English credit recovery at McClymonds.  Below is an edited transcript from the video interview, which can be seen here.

Can you tell me what a mentoring session looks like?
It actually changes a lot as the semester moves on!  The first time you walk into the classroom, you’re going to get quite a lot of looks and the students are going to wonder who you are and what you’re doing in the classroom.  Especially because I am younger than most of the mentors, a lot of kids think that I’m also a student.  One of my favorite parts of mentoring is as you move through the semester, you recognize all the faces and you know all the names.  But you’ll have a few closer connections in the class that you’ve made.  There’s a few people you give fist bumps to or they’ll ask you about your day.   
How do you know who to help in the classroom?
Usually I follow the teacher’s directions because they have the most insight of how the students are doing in the class.  Once you get to know where the students are at, just by being around them consistently checking in, it’s easier for me to know which students are going to struggle with what activity.    
A really important part of the role is building relationships with the students.  Do you ever talk about any subjects that are outside of academics to build a relationship with the students?
I think it’s a lot easier because I am younger so there’s a lot more relation and connection.  For example, I enjoy talking to them about music.  A lot of the students I work with are listening to the same music that I listened to when I was in high school or a slightly more modern version.  They bring a lot of personality into the classes and if you’re just observant, there’s always places where you can make a connection and find a similarity.

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Can you share something that you get from mentoring?  Or an example of something that you’re proud of as a mentor?       
I touched on it a little before, but the process of getting to know the students and knowing how to help them.  I think they differ so much.  Sometimes there’s some students that I’m unable to figure out how to work with them correctly and that’s going to be part of it.  But the process of attempting to get to know a student better and figure out what clicks to help them learn and see them actually get that information and understand it in a reasonable way is by far the most gratifying part of being a mentor.  It’s really difficult and I think that’s why it’s so gratifying.    I feel the success of having them get a concept that they just wouldn’t have gotten without a little bit of extra push.  
You use the word “difficult” a few times.  What would you say is the most difficult part of the role?
The most difficult part is knowing when to back off and leave the student alone.  The student is in school and you think they should be learning all the time.  You always want them to be working and pushing them.  Sometimes that isn’t going to work.  You’re going to have to learn and attempt to recognize when a student isn’t there that day and [productivity] isn’t going to happen.  The more you push them, the more they’re going to get turned away.  Seeking that balance is almost impossible to get right, but it is one of the most essential parts.   Overall, as a mentor, you're there to offer encouragement and support.

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