Libby joined a Brightside programme while applying for university in 2015/16 and was so grateful for the experience that she became a volunteer and has worked on projects with us ever since. She is a volunteer on the Brightside Mentoring Programme.
I came from a family where people hadn’t gone to uni so having a mentor who was at university was an incredible experience for me. I live somewhere where there’s not loads of encouragement to go to university, in fact, people are quite negative about it. They warn you of the cost, of not fitting in, of it not being right for you. So, when I was paired with someone from a similar background, it was a real relief to hear a different perspective.
I was fairly set on what I wanted to do career-wise, so the help I was looking for was more with finding out what university is like, how to write a personal statement, whether I should go into student accommodation or stay at home. My mentor had also gone to uni near their hometown, and they gave me positive advice that made me much less nervous. They told me how many people you meet, how it’s ok if you don’t get on and you’ll always find new people and your community.
My experience of mentoring made me want to go to university and I’m so pleased I did. Since then, I’ve wanted to help young people who grew up in places like I did broaden their horizons and get into uni. I’m incredibly passionate about giving back. I now work for a UniConnect Project and I’m involved in every aspect of outreach.
I love the new video calling feature, it’s a bit more personal because you’re actually talking to your mentees. I still like messaging, because it’s how we communcate and it’s much less scary so you can get used to each other very quickly, then progress to video. I’ve got three mentees at the minute and messaging works well for two and the other prefers video, so it’s great to give them the choice.
What I love about Brightside is that you can connect with people from all over the place because of the app. I reply to messages whenever I have time and it’s so flexible that it fits around my work. I feel really privileged to have been on a mentoring programme before uni and I want to pay that opportunity forward. I 100% believe in the power of mentoring and think young people having someone to talk to is really important. Teachers in schools run great initiatives but they’ve got 35 people to advise; I think young people need more personalised support.
If you want to have a positive impact on a young person’s life, visit this page to find out more about becoming an online mentor and sign up.
