The School of Kinesiology transformed its annual Mentorship Program Wrap-up event into a safe virtual meet-up in spite of the COVID-19 outbreak. Mentors and mentees celebrated the completion of this year’s program online, on March 31st, 2020 by discussing changes– the different ways in which students and alumni have pivoted in their work, academic, and personal lives, and how these changes generated new ideas and methods for their day-to-day living. Participants reflected on their learning in the program and identified exciting next steps in their personal career journeys.
Reflecting on the experience, 8-year KIN alumni mentor Bianca Knop shared: “…it was great to have a platform where we could all share and listen to each other’s unique insights and challenges at this strange time. There was definitely a varying scale of concerns and situations people are dealing with but it was also a good reminder that this is impacting us all and that unites us as a greater group.”
Mentors also imparted some advice to students on how to navigate this current period of self-isolation, which included: practice empathy, for others and yourself; be creative, use the space to innovate or create new opportunities; stay connected to your why, your values and your identity; and call friends, coworkers, classmates, and family to stay connected from day-to-day.
KIN mentee Stephanie Yu expressed the impact of this exercise: “[when we completed the identity exercise] the mentors also felt that the identity sphere needed some work on their end too… This is the time for us to reflect on our identity and also define it, not only as an individual, but as a community, and in a grander scheme, as humans.”
This virtual event concluded the 2019-20 program, which included 29 mentoring pairs:
Angie Lu; Anika Cheng; Calista Chau; Chihiro Abe; Chloe Mathews; Christianna Cheung; Christy Wee; David Canales; Declan Rounce; Elke Peterson; Emi Wong; Emma Tseng; Eunice Lui; Grace Cheung; Isiah McDonald; Ivana Abrigo; Johnson Liu; Kayla Pagnotta; Liane Tang; Makenna Bailey; Mark Yang; Meg Hung; Monica U; Nikki LeClair; Sabrina Hou; Sage Sarabosing; Snowy Zhou; Stephanie Yu and Suzanne Ng.
Congratulations to all student mentees in this year’s cohort!
Applications for the 2020-21 program will open in August. To learn more about the program, click here.