Mentoring Matters

The prospect of moving away from home can be very daunting. Leaving friends and family to move into a college atmosphere with complete strangers; many find it hard to immediately feel part of their new community. The St Hilda’s College mentoring program is designed to rectify this situation and allow the transition from school to university to be a smooth, enjoyable and memorable time in ones life.

The St. Hilda’s mentoring program officially kicks off on the Friday of O’week, with a camp for first-years at Kangaroobie - a campsite only a few minutes from the Twelve Apostles. Freshers spend three days meeting the mentors (second and third year students), as well as resident tutors. They also have the chance to catch up on some much needed sleep as many of the freshers are utterly exhausted from the pace of the previous few days and overwhelmed by what they have managed to achieve in such a short period of time. All of the mentors have just completed two days of mentor training which aims to help prepare mentors for their role.

All freshers are placed into mentor groups, with each group having a male and female mentor. The mentors are always extremely eager to meet the new members of the college community and the freshers often find that they haven’t met everyone in their mentor group yet either. Most freshers find that the mentors are a wealth of knowledge when it comes to university and college life and can answer such questions as, “What is High Table?” The mentors are also keen to hear some stories from the freshers regarding the previous few days.

Throughout the next few days, the mentor groups compete for points in some very entertaining activities. Such activities include a fashion parade, a ropes course, a rather unforgettable afternoon at the beach, and something to do with jam, chocolate, eggs, bread and balloons. The winning mentor group, which is the group with the most points at the end of the weekend, wins a rather generous hamper that awaits their return, back at college, on the Sunday afternoon. However, there is also time for chilling out, meeting new people, and enjoying a friendly yarn around the campfire while toasting a marshmallow or two.

With the beginning of their tertiary education only days away, many freshers are keen to meet the resident tutors of the college. Amidst a relaxed environment, freshers can get an insight into the university system and the various ways in which the tutors can help throughout the year. Many find it somewhat relieving that there are people in the college who are able to help with a myriad of issues students often face in their first year of university.

The weekend at Kangaroobie shows freshers the more serious side of college and university life. By the end of the weekend, many freshers find that they are a little better prepared to start university the next day and also that they are a part of a group of people that will experience an unforgettable time throughout the academic year and beyond.

However, the mentoring program doesn’t finish when the buses arrive back at college on the Sunday. The mentors have a debriefing session regarding the weekend at Kangaroobie and mentor groups are encouraged to ‘meet up’ occasionally throughout the year. A highlight of these events is mentor dinners where mentor groups experience the culinary delights of a local restaurant for a night.

Brent Eichler

2007 Mentors

Whitney Atkinson, Gavin Ballard, Robby Chapman, Beth Corbould, Penny Davis, Robert Henham, Chris Horsley, Al Jones, Amanda Judson, Emma Kennon, Ian Kilpatrick, Sheridan Laing, Eliza Lee, Evan Lloyd, Joe McCarthy, Chloe McConville, Jason Mercer, James Mirtschin, Thomas Rose, Katherine St. Lawrence, Emily Walker, Michael Watson, Penny White, Kate Withington, Tristan Zeuschner