Constructive Counsel: The Merits of Peer Mentoring
Patrycja Ptak, a second-year architecture student at NJIT’s Hillier College of Architecture and Design, vividly recalls the uncertainty she felt and challenges she faced navigating the college pathway — which is why she decided to become a mentor through Strive for College, an online platform that provides resources and support to aspiring and current first-generation college students, and with which NJIT is a strategic partner.
“As a first-gen college student myself, I know how difficult and daunting the college matching process is,” noted Ptak. “It was very difficult to be making such an important decision that would affect the rest of my life, essentially by myself.”
Having been mentored as a high school senior, through a different virtual advising program, she appreciates the benefits of peer mentoring and hopes to pay it forward with her Strive mentee, who looks to major in computer science at a northeastern school.
“I am helping my mentee by breaking down the process of finding the right college into small, manageable steps,” Ptak said. “We have worked together to narrow down her possible school choices, reviewed SAT scores, explored schools through virtual tours and continued to work through finishing her Common App, as well as any other applications she had. Overall, I think I have helped my mentee most by being there when she has a question.”
Also volunteering as a Strive mentor is second-year computer science major and Albert Dorman Honors College student, Paras Sakharkar. He has been advising his mentee, a STEM high school junior in Nevada, whom he describes as “enthusiastic, smart and self-motivated,” on college admissions tests. Additionally, Sakharkar has assisted him in signing up for college tours and preparing — and sticking to — a timeline of what needs to be done and when.
“He has a keen interest in the field of information technology, which really helped me give him relevant advice,” remarked Sakharkar. “My mentee also expressed sadness over having to leave home for college and the pressure he faces of having to do well. For this, and as a means of keeping things on the timeline, we have a weekly call where I try to answer all his questions and also assure him that he will be fine.”
Sakharkar, too, was mentored — as a freshman at the university by another NJIT student, through the Ying Wu College of Computing Mentoring Program. His mentor, now an alumnus turned good friend, offered him guidance in planning classes, finding internships and “gaining a sense of direction about what I needed to accomplish in order to be successful in college.”
“I was overwhelmed by the number of things that were expected of me. … It was through this experience that I realized how impactful a peer mentor can be,” offered Sakharkar, who has enjoyed mentoring not only for the rewards reaped from helping his mentee get into college, but also for the valuable personal takeaways. “Being able to witness a lifestyle totally different from mine has made me more aware about the different backgrounds and environments people come from. … I have realized that despite differences in backgrounds, certain things remain relevant for almost everyone.”
Ptak agrees that peer mentoring is worthwhile for both mentor and mentee, and looks forward to learning where her mentee will attend college. “I cannot wait for the next few months when my mentee will receive her acceptance letters and eventually pick a school in May!”
Students Helping Students
Peer mentoring at NJIT is available through a variety of programs. Here is just a sampling:
The Garden State-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, of which NJIT is a member, provides a Cross Campus Peer Mentoring Program, “designed to help community college students make a smooth and successful transition” from two-year to four-year institutions. The program includes a Bridges to Baccalaureate component that recruits and pairs peer mentors with community college students aspiring to transfer to NJIT.
The Passing the Torch Mentor Program “provides every first-year Honors student an opportunity to be assigned an upper-class Honors peer mentor,” typically from the same academic program. Passing the Torch strives to promote a sense of community within the college and enhance the first-year experience.
Learning Communities Peer Mentors are upperclassmen students who are active in the NJIT community and strong in their respective areas of study. Assigned to guide first-year students in learning communities and help them develop valuable study and time management skills, peer mentors also “serve as role models and lead by example both inside and outside the classroom to help incoming students learn how best to adapt and navigate to university life.”
The Ying Wu College of Computing Mentoring Program is open to all NJIT students “interested in further developing academically and professionally in computing.” Mentors work with mentees through workshops, panels and discussion sessions on topics that include career development, networking, personal branding and more.
January is National Mentoring Month. Established in 2002 by MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the observance aims to raise awareness of the positive effects of mentoring and enhance recruitment efforts, among other objectives.
