Mentorship 2019

As a public university that attracts a high percentage of first-generation college students, UC Berkeley has a responsibility to lay the groundwork for these networks and set all students on the road to success — before and after graduation.

Being a mentor not only changes the life of your mentee but can also impact your own life. Be the change you had in your life, and guide others to success!

Here at UC Berkeley, sometimes it may feel as though guidance and mentorship is few and far between. There are so many different resources that sometimes it may feel confusing or daunting to know where or who to turn to when you feel like you need a bit of a push or pull to guide you in the right direction.

The combatives room at the UC Berkeley Recreational Sports Facility, or RSF, pounds to the beat of energetic music and the feet of 50 people doing jumping jacks. Class instructor Shola Ogunlana walks between the rows of people, her lapel microphone amplifying her instructions and words of encouragement.

I have no recollection of when I started speaking Russian; it just happened. But I moved to California when I was 3 years old and lost the Russian language in the pursuit of learning English. So while I can’t remember learning the first time, I do remember the second time around.

Ask any successful person what their secret is, and chances are, they will attribute their success to the guidance they received from their mentors.

Amanda Moreno always knew she wanted to be a teacher, and four years ago, after working for some time in Contra Costa County, she took a job as an English teacher at Berkeley High School.

When both queer and trans adults and adolescents struggle to stay afloat, it’s time to deploy life-saving tools and tactics. Proactive mentorship should always be the first line of defense. UC Berkeley administrators must learn to prioritize mentorship programs for queer and trans students on campus before the tidal wave of queer and trans oppression takes us under.

The small commitment of mentoring a student could have an exponential impact on the rest of their lives and, hopefully, change the future of the Berkeley community.

At UC Berkeley, students in the sciences look to their professors as mentors as they attempt to navigate the often overwhelming field of research. But what should students do when these same mentors fail to impart the importance of ethics in their work?