On Tuesday 27th June, the Westminster Business School held it’s e-mentor awards ceremony, celebrating 3rd year students who have given up their time to mentor new students. As part of this event, we wanted to speak to several mentors at the event in an interview series to find out what motivates them.
Tell us about yourself…
I’m Arifa, I’m an Indian Muslim born in Kenya now living in Harrow, and I studied BA Business Management with Marketing at the Westminster Business School.
How did you find out about the e-mentoring scheme?
I found out about the e-mentoring scheme through an email. I discussed it with my friends and then we decided to do it together.
What made you sign up to it?
The idea of helping other people really stood out to me. Especially because these people were just a little younger than me and I’ve been through what they’re going through, so I felt as though I was in a good position to help. I remembered how much help was required when I was starting out and how much I appreciated those that were there for me, which is why I wanted to do something too. Receiving help from someone of a similar age is always nice because you can relate much more and build a rapport.
What was your highlight during your mentoring?
My highlight was simply juggling between my studies and sending out the emails around the January exams. In the beginning of the scheme I didn’t get many replies but I did during exam time when many started thinking about their pathways as well.
Why do you think students should become an e-mentor?
I think students should become an E-mentor because it really enhances their communication skills through email especially. Also, it gives you a sense of responsibility and leadership which is what employers desire. It’s a great opportunity to help others and to better yourself, and I think the best way to know you have learnt something during your university period is when you are actually able to teach it to someone else. This can be conveyed through what you do whist you mentor someone. It’s a chance to be someone’s helping hand and role model.
What are your plans now that you’ve graduated?
Now that I’ve graduated I am completing work experience in a job centre where I help customers make claims, apply to jobs and any other queries they may have. I am also applying to full time jobs and internships that are either marketing related or administrative. Also my other plan is to start up a blog that would be for university students mainly. It’ll be topics like advice and tips. Not only that, it’s an opportunity for me to build my own foundation, a way to stand out to employers by “doing the job, before receiving the job”. My other plans regarding the blog are to interview people in higher posts than me and finding out things like how they got to that position and also things like what advice they would have wanted.
Can you part any last mentor wisdom to new students reading this?
My advice to anyone reading this is that enjoy University as much as you can. Although it may seem like a myth because of these deadlines and hardworking, it is really important to have fun simply because you won’t get this time back and once it’s done you’ll typically be in a full time job. However, it is also important to take control and responsibility of your own decisions and life, once you ace these years you can decide what you want to do and be your own boss. So don’t mess up now!
Many thanks to Arifa for writing this wonderful blog. Find out more about the e-mentor scheme and you can also find out more about Arifa’s course in Business Management with Marketing. Make sure to visit Arifa’s new blog, The Regeneration and follow her over on Twitter and Instagram. You can also read our last interview with e-mentor, Gabriel.
