What is the Student Mentor Scheme?

This article was written by Musical Theatre BA(Hons) student, Ethan.

Starting university can be a daunting and nervous time, but rest assured there is plenty of support available to help you settle in throughout your first year. This includes the University's Student Mentor Scheme.

What is the Student Mentor Scheme?

Falmouth's Student Mentor Scheme consists of students in their second year onwards, who have volunteered to become mentors for the incoming first years. Mentors are here to help you settle into life at university, answer any questions you may have and continue to support you throughout your first year of studies. We are friendly faces in the area, who you can come to with any queries, concerns or just for a chat. Every incoming first year will be matched with a mentor from their course's department - they may be from the course you are studying, or from a different course within your department. Regardless, they will be able to help, support and provide information. One of our mentors will first contact you in the summer over the phone to check in, see how you're feeling about starting university and answer any questions you may have.

Communicating with your Mentor

One of the best ways to communicate with us is through our Discord server. Every incoming first year is invited to join the server, as this is a great way for you to meet all our mentors and even start meeting your fellow classmates! We have a dedicated channel for each department, where your mentors will post their personal introductions for you to get to know them better and will be ready to chat to you about anything you want to discuss or ask. We also have individual channels specifically for any LGBTQ+, International, Mature, Disabled and Cornish/Local students to meet and chat with to each other. This is a great way to meet new & current students and is a fun and welcoming environment. If you are an incoming student and would like to join our Discord, you can access the server through this link.

In late August, every first year will be matched to their mentor and the first contact will be made. They will send you an email via their university account to introduce themselves to you, check in to see how the preparation for university is going, answer any questions or concerns you may have and provide additional information on any other university services and support that you may require. They will also share our Discord server (if you're not already in it) and provide information about out Meet Your Mentor event. This is the perfect opportunity to introduce yourself to your mentor, so they can get to know you and answer any questions about your course/department, clubs & societies, or to discuss any worries you have about coming to university.

Meeting your Mentor in-person

The first opportunity to meet our mentors in person is during move in weekend. As you arrive and start moving into your accommodation, we will have a number of mentors on-campus to help. They will be there to help you move your belongings into your flat, answer any questions and help to alleviate any worries or anxieties you may have about moving away. They can also provide directions to locations around campus and tell you how to get to places off-campus including Asda - the most popular place for students to do their grocery shopping due to its convenient location only a 20-minute walk from the Penryn Campus. Once moved in, be assured that our Discord will still be active if you're feeling lonely or worried and want to have a chat with someone.