The InSIGHT mentorship program is an Innis-exclusive program that pairs first year Innisians with upper-year students who are in a similar academic program. The mentors help their mentees with everything from academic questions to navigating college life. As the 2019-2020 academic year came to an end, I reached out to individuals who are connected to this unique mentorship program at three different levels to share their thoughts on what makes the InSIGHT program so special to the College.

Eilene Su, InSIGHT mentee

Tony Hu: Tell me how you got involved in the InSIGHT program.

Eilene Su: I got involved in InSIGHT during Orientation at the Innis clubs fair. I signed up to be a mentee because I thought it would be helpful to have a mentor who has already transitioned from being a high school student to a university student and thus could give me advice on things like my courses and how to adapt to university life.

TH: What were your expectations for the InSIGHT program at the beginning of the year? How were those expectations met or did anything surprise you?

ES: At the beginning of the year, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the program as I had never participated in a mentor-mentee type of program before. Nonetheless, I was really happy with the mentor I got as I had already begun to work closely with her. I was really lucky to have gotten Naomi as my mentor as we were also paired together as senior representative and first-year representative on the Innis Residence Council, so I think the mentor pairing exceeded my expectations.

TH: What is the single biggest thing you learned from your participation in the InSIGHT program?

ES: The single biggest thing I learned from participating in the InSIGHT program is that the mentors are really there to help you and are willing to help you whenever you need it. I found that the interactions between mentor and mentee often go beyond the events planned through InSIGHT.

TH: Will you continue to participate in the InSIGHT program as a mentor next year? Why or why not?

ES: I would like to continue to participate in the InSIGHT program as a mentor next year as I think the mentor role is extremely helpful to the first years in terms of transitioning to university. It would be rewarding to be able to provide the same type of support for a mentee as I was given.

Tony Niu, InSIGHT mentor

Tony Hu: Tell me how you got involved in the InSIGHT program.

Tony Niu: The experience of being an international student coming to Canada a few years ago made me realize how difficult it is to transition into Canadian culture, so I applied to be a mentor at the end of my second year hoping to help guide mentees who share similar backgrounds and experiences with me. In my first year, although I did not apply to be an InSIGHT mentee, my orientation captain, Chiao Sun, was incredibly helpful. He has acted as a mentor throughout my university life. From teaching me important life lessons to guiding me in my academic studies, he has always been there for me and he is someone I can totally look up to. I wanted to become someone like him—someone who is helpful, experienced, caring, and knowledgeable. That’s why I decided to apply to be a mentor with the InSIGHT mentorship program!

TH: What were your experiences in the InSIGHT program at the beginning of the year? How were those expectations met or did anything surprise you?

TN: I was expecting to really connect with my mentees and be a guide for them in their first year at UofT. All of my mentees are Chinese international students just like me which made communication really easy since we all share a similar cultural background. I could really connect with them and answer specific questions for them. In addition, their programs of study are all really closely related to the fields I am in, thus I am able to answer academic-related and career-related questions for them as well. My expectations were 100% met and I am so happy to just be there for them and be someone they can talk to throughout their undergraduate studies.

TH: What is the single biggest thing you learned from your participation in the InSIGHT program?

TN: Through interactions with my mentees, I realized that the single biggest thing I learned was that often first-year students have questions but they cannot find someone to reach out to. The InSIGHT mentorship program provides the opportunity for them to get their questions answered. The program acts as a bridge, forming small groups so that mentees feel like they have someone to talk to and are able to make friends with each other.

TH: What was your favourite InSIGHT related experiences this year?

TN: I organized a bubble tea social with all of my mentees a few months back and we all felt really comfortable talking to each other and sharing our experiences. It was really cool for us to learn more about each other’s experiences since coming into university in September; we discussed a couple of academic-related topics as well as career-related topics. I personally was impressed by the visions and goals my mentees have set for themselves in their early years of university. Oh, and did I mention the bubble tea was really good?

Julie Hyunh, InSIGHT program chair

Tony Hu: Tell me how you got involved in the InSIGHT program.

Julie Hyunh: I got involved in InSIGHT during my first year where I was a mentee. I really enjoyed the mentorship experience and felt that it helped my transition into university, so I applied to be a mentor in my second and third year. This year, I am the chair of the program, where I am responsible for matching mentees with mentors as well as planning events alongside the mentorship portfolio lead within the Office of Student Life’s community development team.

TH: How do you think you have changed the InSIGHT program in your role as chair and what changes would you like to see from the InSIGHT program for next year?

JH: The transition from mentor to chair was quite difficult because I did not hold any executive positions related to event planning before this. All of my executive positions have been behind-the-scenes such as in graphic designing or secretary roles, so it was a challenge to take on this role. Currently, it is just me and the community development team lead that plan events and our main mode of communication is by email. I would like to see this change next year by having the mentors become more involved in event planning. We could facilitate this through bi-weekly or monthly meetings where all the mentors can come together to discuss event ideas. It would also be a great space to discuss any issues that have arisen in their mentorship pairings. I think this change would be beneficial to the program and would also increase the interactions between mentors to strengthen the Innis College community.

TH: What is the single biggest thing you learned from your participation in the InSIGHT program?

JH: The single biggest thing I have learned in my time as a mentee, mentor, and now chair is that mentorship is quite foundational because only an upper-year would really understand the challenges and struggles that an incoming first-year student would go through. Yeah, there are other people who could support the transition, but it is nice to have someone to talk to who has just recently gone through these challenges and can provide relevant tips and suggestions on how to get through first-year.

TH: What was your favourite InSIGHT related experience this year?

JH: My favourite this year has to be the Halloween event where we carved pumpkins. It was really fun and about half of the mentees and mentors showed up, which I am very happy about! Low-key plug, but the photos from this event are located on our Facebook page!

Interviews have been lightly edited for clarity.