What qualities does a peer mentor possess to be successful in the position? A peer mentor should be empathetic, sincere, trustworthy, and ambitious. ULV consists of several diverse students, so it is necessary for a peer mentor to be able to understand the various challenges each of their mentees either face or could potentially face. I assume that the mentees are to look up to their mentors and for that reason, a mentor should be sincere and trustworthy. Mentees should be comfortable being vulnerable around their mentors and should expect genuine responses from them. One of the most significant qualities a peer mentor should have is ambition. Students are often more inspired by other students who are driven and who have some degree of knowledge as to what they want to do in their future rather than not. These qualities will allow the peer mentors and mentees to build a strong relationship, encouraging success all around. Consider the challenges or barriers to success a STEM student might face. …show more content…
STEM disciplines require an immense amount of work and effort to succeed for most students. From my personal experience, on average, as an undergraduate student pursuing a Mathematics degree, I have taken four, five unit courses in my field per semester. Often I was overwhelmed by how many different concepts I had to learn simultaneously and became concerned that I would accidentally apply wrong formulas or techniques in my varying courses. Along with class stress, there are also additional components that interfere with success in a STEM discipline. Two of these additional stressors are gender and ethnicity; these stressors or challenges appear more