Join the Mentorship Program and Build Honors Networks at UCSB

The Honors Peer Mentor Program gives all incoming first-year honors students the opportunity to be paired with sophomore, junior, and senior honors mentors who want to share the knowledge and experience they have gained at UCSB.

Both new freshman and students who have already completed their first year in the honors program have a lot to gain from joining this program.

Last year's mentees appreciated the inside tips and friendly advice their mentors gave them. They enjoyed being shown around campus and meeting their mentors for coffee, learning the ins and outs of registration and GOLD, what the most interesting classes are, and how to get in on the concerts at Arts & Lectures puts on at Campbell Hall. One freshman explained, "I made a friend and got good advice, about both school and other things." A special benefit is having a mentor whose explicit charge is to help you ease into the academic environment. A student who enjoyed the casual relationship with his mentor had this advice for first-year students seeking out mentors: "Don't be afraid to ask your mentor any questions you may have. You won't sound dumb, and they are there to help you, so take advantage of it."

Although the advantages for first-year students are clear, the Mentorship Program is far from a one-way street. Mentors also enjoy the opportunity to pass on the knowledge they have gained in their early years on campus. A senior environmental studies and political science double major who served as a mentor this year felt he "really helped his peer acclimate socially and academically to UCSB." Another mentor, a junior communications major, "enjoyed showing someone else all the little tricks of the trade I have learned at UCSB. I know the freshman year can be overwhelming, so it was really nice to help someone else ease into it."

All in all, the program has been a hit with mentors and mentees alike. Most mentees we talked to were glad to know that someone was available to answer questions, and that help could be a cell phone call, or an email, or a text message away. And it had an added benefit for one incoming student: it changed her perception of the honors program. "Interacting with my mentor and others in the program made the honors program seem like so much more than an abstract idea."

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