POE Mentor Social

Mentor Social

On Thursday, October 13, about 35 POE Mentors got together to socialize and learn a little bit more about how to be the best mentors on Peninsula.  All of these people joined POE because they wanted to help change peoples’ lives.  Each time a student has a chance to successfully graduate from college, they have just a little more opportunity.

 So what is a POE Mentor?  Every new college student has a different set of needs as they embark on their college career.  These challenges can range from understanding how to manage money to interpersonal issues to finding the right classes and navigating college bureaucracy. So, each POE student is partnered with a Mentor.  And the partnership lasts for the student’s entire college career.

Our Mentors sit down with their students and help them navigate the complexities they are facing.  The Mentors are an interesting mix of men and women:  a rocket scientist turned chef, some company founders, teachers and guidance counselors who want to help even more, some people out of finance, marketing, and many others. 

The Mentor Social allowed all of us to both get to know each other better and learn from each other.  Discussions ranged from mentor experiences to just learning more about our fellow volunteers.  And we were reminded of a number of key resources on the POE Web site.  Mentors can access the resources thru the mentor resource page: http://poescholarships.org/mentors/mentor-resources.

*       A Google Docs folder that explains how to handle certain situations.

*       A comparative budget history to help Mentors see if they are guiding their students correctly.

*       The Blog to provide information.

*       A POE database that is being developed to provide “experts” who can provide students some perspective on different career paths.

All in all, our goal is to help our students be as successful as possible.  Thanks to all of the mentors for their support.