Goda’s story

The thing I like the most about Brightside is that it takes the students into account. It’s designed around the way we behave. We prefer to communicate through our phones, so that’s where we talk to our mentors.  

I found the programme really useful. It’s the first time I’ve ever done something like this, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I liked how you could choose your mentor based on their experience as well as what you have in common. I liked the icebreakers because no-one's ever going to go straight in and say “hey, I’m interested in law”. 

I was quite awkward and serious with my mentor at the start, but after a couple of weeks I worked out my level of chill. What really broke the ice was when my cat attacked me during a video call, and we realised that we’re both cat lovers. At school you’re scared to be informal because you get told off, but with your mentor it’s better to be yourself and talk how you usually do, so long as it’s respectful.  

I want to give my mentor so much credit. She did research for me, which really showed how much she cared, and she even asked a friend who studied law and computing questions for me. We were both a lot more comfortable with video calls, which I didn’t think I would be at the start. We had more than 10 calls, and they were quite fun, I enjoyed them. We had the time of our lives!  

When we started talking, I was pretty sure I wanted to study international law, and my mentor encouraged me to think about other things I might be interested in too. With this prompt, I did some more research and started looking into working in tech. I’m now applying for computer science and want to work in cyber security because that involves law too. My mentor helped me to see my priorities more clearly and that I wanted to study technology with a little bit of law, when I thought it was the other way around.  

I wouldn’t have realised that without her help, so mentoring changed my whole future. 

She also encouraged me to think about the wider uni experience and not just what I was studying. She asked me whether I’d prefer a campus or a city university and I had no idea! I’d not considered it before. I also knew nothing about student finance or clearing. I couldn’t believe the concept of clearing: you just call on the phone and see if there’s a place?! But she explained everything to me.  

I’m the first in my family to consider university. My parents are from Lithuania so they’re used to a different school system, and it was nice to have someone else to ask, someone who could understand it and break it down and clarify everything for you. It made me much less stressed about the unknowns.  

Before I started the mentoring programme, I was scared by the way everyone talks about uni. People talk about this massive debt, but my mentor told me how you pay it back over time and that was much less scary and confusing.  

Talking to a mentor gave me more confidence and got rid of a lot of my fears and stresses. I feel relaxed about going to uni now and I’ve gained a lot of confidence, especially with communicating. I used to be talkative, but not necessarily confident. This programme made me branch out more and now I participate in debates and look for more opportunities to test myself.