Peer Mentoring

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Goal: An Alliance for Life: Understanding the Long-term Value of a Peer-Mentoring System

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Title: An Alliance for Life: Understanding the Long-term Value of a Peer-Mentoring

Starting university might be overwhelming for some students, along with an increased caseload of studies or being away from home for the first time. Peer mentoring is a great way for students at any level or age to connect and put themselves a few steps ahead when it comes to their education, their careers, and their lives.

The peer mentoring system typically takes students who are third- or fourth-year undergraduate students, or postgraduate students pursuing higher degrees, and matches them with a first- or second-year student in the same …show more content…

The mentors can give them valuable insight, educational help and mental support and encouragement to keep moving ahead. They can meet new people, experience new situations, and set the stage for a better academic future — first-year students in a study at The University of Western Ontario who participated in a full-year peer-mentoring program had significantly higher final grades than students who were not mentored.
Older students who are serving as mentors not only have a great experience in university, but also have a significant piece they can add to their CV. They are challenged to take what they’ve learned and think outside the box to explain and instruct the students who are being mentored. This helps to create a well-rounded education, and a person who is able to view a situation from a perspective different than their own typically has greater success academically and …show more content…

A peer mentor pulls from the same ideas of more experienced individuals in the same demographic helping someone newer to the field.
Students in a peer-mentoring program have an advocate and supporter to push them to a higher level of education and study, encouraging them to move ahead with their formal education, whether that is to push themselves a little harder and achieve things they didn’t think were possible or to pursue a post-grad degree.

What is unique about a peer mentoring program is that these students now have a connection as they enter the workforce, and an advocate who can serve as a reference or referral for future employment opportunities. Maintaining the relationship beyond the university is a move that makes sense for both parties.
Students will be in similar stages of life and may develop a long-term friendship that will transfer into other areas of their lives.
As the mentored students graduate, they will already know someone working professionally in the same or similar field. This will help them as they are looking for jobs or need a reference for their

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