We Need You: Being a PA Mentor at Oxford University

Being a student is a great responsibility: doing coursework, meeting the deadlines, undertaking group projects, internships, assignments, tests and exams, completing bureaucracy, participating in extracurriculars, and maintaining a healthy balance between school and social life are merely a few aspects of the having the student status.

However, being partially responsible for the future of other students and guiding them throughout the application process at your university, which is their life’s dream, is not a piece of cake either– especially if that university is Oxford. Yet, being an Oxford mentor (or any kind of mentor) at Project Access (PA) can be one of the most rewarding experiences you will ever have, and I will share mine in today’s blog!

Speaking of numerous pros, there are quite a few:

Helping others make their dreams come true.

Oxford is a very well-known academic institution that has been providing high-quality education for almost a millennium. As one of the best universities in the world, it is a dream of many aspiring students and researchers who are more than eligible to study here, so the competition is fierce and the standards are extremely high.

Still, there are numerous students coming from the educational systems, schools and backgrounds that have not produced Oxbridge students and they do not know how to create competitive applications. Why not help them as a current student?

I have faced a similar issue, and was going in blind when applying for graduate studies in Chinese because there had been no known students from Serbia, my home country, who had made successful applications to read Chinese at Oxford. This is why I found PA to be a perfect place to share input and experience with prospective applicants as I have been in their shoes, and to provide the support I did not have.

Building a special bond with your mentee(s).

For me, this has been one of the most rewarding aspects of being a mentor at PA: hearing the mentees’ stories and reasons for applying, assisting them in creating applications to multiple universities, watching over their growth and receiving those emails/calls with wonderful news in the end. My mentees also became my friends afterwards, and we are still in touch! It is also not uncommon for these same mentees to join PA as mentors once they enroll at the university.

(You have not heard it from me, but the mentees can nominate their mentor for the Mentor of the Year award!)

Getting to know more people and making long-lasting friendships.

Once the application for the mentor position has been successful and the mandatory training is completed, you are eligible to join our mentor network on various platforms (Slack, Facebook, Discord etc.). This is chance to meet fellow mentors and like-minded individuals from your campus, university or the country team, and to join virtual and in-person social events.

Furthermore, this is a chance to find out about other ways to engage with PA. These include but are not limited to: taking part in Open Uni Days as a representative of your university, joining our Prep Program as a Specialist Mentor, and conducting mock interviews with the mentees depending on their choice of the university – as an Oxford mentor, you are encouraged to share your interview experience!

Please note that PA is always in need of mentors regardless of their level and field of study so do not hesitate to apply for the role and share your story with us! We all joined on voluntary basis, but we take our responsibilities seriously.

It is a chance to join PA as a full-time member.

Mentors are not full-time members of PA. Yet, this can be a stepping stone to becoming one and bringing change to our team. Being a full-time member does not mean full-time work but being an official member of Project Access.

I initially started as a mentor, and then became a Specialist Mentor in Prep Program, and have consequently been invited to join PA as a full-time member in the role of Prep Program Officer! PA is eager for innovation and change, so each member is encouraged to think of new ideas, strategies and plans that can improve the program they are in.

Moreover, you are not limited to applying for the positions within our three programs (Prep, Undergraduate and Graduate) – there is a range of positions offered within the Platform team, Outreach, Expansion team, Finance, Marketing, Data analysis, etc. Oxford students are always in search of internships, namely those in Micro and Summer Internship programmes, and this is a perfect chance to get yourself involved with a position related to your degree and gain practical experience you can talk about in your CV.

Well, there is the reverse of the medal too:

Mentee being rejected from the dream unis.

This is a tough one, but not unheard of. As mentioned, the competition for top unis is fierce. We, the students at these universities, are here to assist in creating a competitive application, but cannot guarantee the successful outcome of it. It is nevertheless quite heart-breaking for each and every mentor to see the sad and disappointed face of their mentee after opening the notorious rejection letter.

Let’s talk about the realiTEA: Oxford is tough.

Balancing between study, sleep, extracurriculars and social life can be quite overwhelming, and at least one aspect has to suffer; for example, I might have to pull an all-nighter due to an essay crisis or late-night hangouts after a formal dinner at the college. It can also be challenging to balance between doing extensive readings for several classes, working on the project and going through the nth version of mentee’s written work/CV/personal statement a week before the application deadline. This is especially difficult when dealing with the applications of several mentees at the same time, and the mentor should always consider the number of the mentee requests they accept so that no one eventually feels disappointed.

Ups and downs are expected in every challenge we accept! I embraced mine and have come to a conclusion that good outweighs the bad, and am therefore not planning to leave PA soon!

If you are a mentee applying to Oxford, you may wish to have a look at Tilly’s TOG (That Oxford Girl) blog that gathers Oxford students/student ambassadors who share tips and hints on the application process and student life in general. Any Oxford student can become one – this is also an amazing opportunity to write blog posts for a very popular student platform, boost CV, gather at social events and enjoy giveaways from Tilly! There are three of my blogs there, with the most recent one being about PA.

If you are a current Oxford student reading this, please consider applying to be a mentor at PA! Your insight will be invaluable to the mentees and to PA as a whole, and the skills and knowledge you develop with be invaluable for your future work. Most importantly, you might change someone’s life for the better.

Written by Nevena Skobic.

Do you have any topics you would especially like to see covered on our blog? People you would like to meet? Places you want to see? Send your suggestions to veronica.aharon@projectaccess.org ✉️