Mojito's Tale

27 May 2011

I’ll do the storytelling next time ;)

Mahlzeit! Having brunch, devouring this arroz caldo from Tita Wendy straight from Wales! Manami spent the weekend at Marie’s place in Wales. As I was supposed to work on a Sunday, I couldn’t make it. So sweet of Tita Wendy to send me some lovin. I miss their suppah lovin family. I definitely have to go there before I leave. (Taken with Instagram at Home @ braddie)

Loooooong day. Felt great doing a lot, though. Shitty weather (tired of sayin this, but still), you can’t just get me on lockdown, you know. It’s not like it’s really productive, but at least I didn’t spend the day just staying in my room. (Taken with instagram)

Looking at the Sun - by Gramercy

Plus listening to Gramercy’s “Looking at the Sun” on loop, also on “#JudgementDay”.

I just died there

Spent “Judgement Day” pigging out on polvorons at home. Is this heaven or what? (Taken with Instagram at Home @ bradie)

Reflection on being a mentor

(A few months ago in a training session as a student ambassador)

I’ve done academic tutoring, but I’ve never done mentoring before. So I felt that I learned a lot from the mentoring exercise. Following the mentoring session, my mentee was asked by the coordinator regarding our discussion. Basically, the questions were about how well I carried out the conversation in a mentoring manner. According to my mentee, I was able to put her at ease at the start and the meeting had a positive feeling to it because her first impression of me was friendly and approachable. And by asking some personal questions about family and interests, I was able to build a rapport with her and led her to open up about issues relating to her goals, plans on progression and achievement. I also made sure that I listen to everything that she’s saying and that I respond to her through my gestures like nodding. But when she raised issues related to some difficulties and barriers that hinder her to pursuing with HE like financial problems and peer pressure, I gave her some insights and possibilities that she might want to consider in order to address such difficulties. In support, I was able to share some personal experiences with her that could possibly talk her into really thinking about these possibilities.

On the other hand, some of the areas that I need to improve on as a mentor, as pointed out by my coordinator, is my confidence and ability to make conclusions at the end of the session. Honestly, I had a difficulty dealing with the specific details of the problem of the mentee, which involved the UK educational system, because I wasn’t familiar with the system. So personally, I think I would have to at least familiarize myself with the system.

Based from my own experiences, I believe that a mentor can meaningfully have a great impact on another person’s life. And for an effective mentoring, it is important to devote one’s time and energy to build a relationship with the mentee. A good mentor must be fair, open-minded, an active listener, patient, encouraging, and committed. At times, a mentor might need to set aside some interests to focus on the interests of the mentee.

Reflection on being a mentee

(A few months ago in a training session as a student ambassador)

I find it easier playing the role of the mentee in the session rather than playing the mentor, because all I did was rant about things and bring up certain problematic issues. Another reason was that maybe I could relate more to the situations of a mentee because I also had that questions and issues when I was at that stage in my life where I have to make tough decisions for my future.

For the mentee’s part, I think that it was really important that my mentor put me at ease at the start during our first meeting. Because young people at that age are most probably anxious about talking to someone about certain concerns. It would be normal for them to hold back at first. And sometimes, they might get intimidated by a mentor. For a mentee, a positive feeling of the meeting might be crucial, considering the fact that first impressions are important in predicting the flow of the relationship. As a mentee, I found it easier to open up with my mentor because she was really outgoing and nice. She shared a lot of ideas, thoughts, and experiences about the issues that I brought up, which quite convinced me to consider pursuing HE. In the end, I found the mentor to be an effective one.

Being a mentee, I realised that mentees could make the most of the mentoring relationship if they themselves are interested in developing their skills towards achieving a certain goal, which in this case is pursuing HE, and if they are able to take responsibility of these developments as well. It is important for them to be able to set goals and eventually work towards them. They must be open-minded, just as a mentor should be open-minded. They should learn how to accept constructive criticisms and willing to take on challenges, being positive about change and growth.