The final two-day seminar of the Student Mentoring Institute club took place at the Kavgolovo training base of the Empress Catherine II St. Petersburg Mining University. Its participants will take patronage over first-year students next fall, their task will be to accelerate the adaptation of “new recruits” by involving them in social, scientific and sports life of the university.
There were initially more than 250 people willing to take up such a difficult but interesting business, so at the preliminary stages of the Council of students even had to organize a competitive selection. As a result, 98 young men and women, who were the most motivated to become mentors of their younger comrades, were left in the “clip”. It was they who went on the final trip out of town in the format “without ties” in order to continue working on the development of their communication and other skills.
Explaining the reasons why the guys decided to take on such a heavy load and solve other people's problems, they spoke, first of all, about the desire for self-development, the desire to make new friends and acquaintances, and also recalled the time when they themselves first crossed the threshold of their alma mater. Senior students helped them feel at home in an unfamiliar environment and get used to the new rhythm of life.
“During the first semester I felt a little lost, and my mentor really helped me adapt. She explained how to fill out documents correctly, told me where this or that location was, but, most importantly, she created a very good microclimate in our group,” says Alexandra Solovyova, a second-year student of the Faculty of Mineral Processing.
Despite her young age, this academic year she has already acted as a supervisor herself, and quite successfully. Therefore, in Kavgolovo Sasha not only took part in various master classes and foreside sessions, but also shared her experience with her “classmates”. Answering the question about whether the responsibility does not put pressure on her shoulders, the girl explains that she does not feel anything like that, because she has been involved in community work since she was a little girl. Her list of good deeds even includes organizing a shelter for pets.
“It is very important that children from the same group find mutual understanding from the very first days. A calm and friendly atmosphere has a positive effect on their academic success and personal growth, which is also important. That is why at the meetings with freshmen I considered it obligatory to hold events aimed at team building. This helped everyone to get to know each other better and to become a united whole in the future,” says Alexandra Solovyova.
In addition to the students themselves, this and previous seminars were also taught by Mining University psychologists and external experts in the field of conflictology, business etiquette and, of course, the development of communication competencies. For example, they were taught to listen to the interlocutor without interrupting in order to better understand the essence of his or her question or claims, and also to suppress unnecessary emotions so that the conversation could proceed only in a constructive direction.
“Thanks to trainings, for example, I have learned that if there is a conflict with a person, you need to understand the reasons for it. It is quite likely that he or she has personal problems that prevent you from accepting arguments that seem ironclad to you. In this case, you should treat the opponent with understanding, do not take his “outbursts” on your own account, but go out to dialog and sort things out. Speaking in general, the classes at the Student Mentoring Institute allowed me to better control my speech and express my thoughts more clearly, so I think it is difficult to overestimate their usefulness. And also - here I met interesting people, many of whom became my friends,” says first-year student Gleb Titov.
Of course, future curators should not only have “pumped” communication skills, but also know the charter of the university and the code of conduct of its representatives. After all, one of the priority tasks they will face in the process of getting acquainted with freshmen is to convey to them a seemingly simple, but in fact quite nontrivial for many people idea. Observance of moral norms and dress code is a prerequisite for learning, as well as diligence in learning new knowledge.
“On the one hand, we need to make the kids realize that childhood is over, and their level of responsibility should become much higher. Otherwise, it will be very problematic for them to get a higher education diploma and to succeed in life in general. On the other hand, we must become their guides to this new world. Mining University, for example, has a huge number of sports sections and hobby clubs. So, one of our most important tasks is to understand what newcomers are passionate about or what could interest them outside of classes, outside of school hours. Community or academic work, dancing, soccer, something else. The sooner they find like-minded people who are interested in the same things, the faster they will adapt, improve their self-esteem and be more successful in their studies,” said Milada Efimova, Chair of the Student Mentoring Institute club and third-year student of the Faculty of Mineral Processing.
The trip to the training base in Kavgolovo ended with the defense of projects. The participants were divided into teams, and each team was asked to choose a topic that could be the leitmotif of their work as mentors. Among the priorities were assistance in the adaptation of international students, organization of everyday life in the dormitory, and familiarization with university logistics. The result was the so-called “final products” - a kind of methodology, which outlines the key problems and ways to solve them.