With the different kinds of stressors students encounter in their lives, many struggle with managing the transition from high school to college. If students could be provided with the knowledge of how to overcome this hurdle ahead of time, it would allow for an easier collegiate experience. 

January is National Mentoring Month.

FGCU provides mentors to every first-year student. These mentors meet with incoming freshmen during orientation and act as someone students can go to throughout their first year.

Many students attend college and struggle with things like their workload, anxiety and time management. Instead of combating these struggles blindly, students can go to their mentors who can provide them with strategies on how to tackle these issues.   

When I first got to college, I was nothing but nerves. Instead of having someone to provide me with advice to get through my first semester, I had to tackle it on my own. While I started the school year off strong, I had difficulty finding time between my social life and school life. This caused me to fall behind on my work and then rush to finish everything before the semester’s end. If I had a mentor to guide me, the transition period would have been smoother, allowing me to get accustomed to college life quicker.

Mentors are not just essential in helping students pass their classes, but they can also help provide advice on future career paths. When applying to college, many students don’t know what they want to do. FGCU offers many different mentorship programs ranging from EnvironMentors to those in the Honors College, allowing undergraduate students to obtain first-hand experience in fields they may want to work in.

These programs provide students with opportunities to develop skills that relate to their major. It also allows students to decide if they want to continue pursuing a specific degree or change it.

Mentors can also be found in the people you surround yourself with. I applied to FGCU as a communication major, determined to be a part of the broadcasting world. That changed when I surrounded myself with other students, specifically those in the journalism program. They encouraged me to start writing. This helped me discover that I wanted to write about sports instead of broadcasting them.

College is the gateway that allows students to learn about their future careers. Mentors can fast-track this process by helping students minimize mistakes and discover what they want to do sooner.