PART 1: Introweek – kick off moment of the mentorship project

Date Description of Participants Short evaluation and Photo in action

and the activity personal reflection
timing
21/09 Kick off moment Debbie John, During the kick off
of the Lei Luo, session, we got to know
mentorship Jonathan our mentees and we
project during Travaly, went to a bar where we
the introweek Joséphine got to know each other
Vermeulen, a little bit better and
Paulien Van asked them what their
Acker and expectations of this
Fran Wens program were. I
thought this was an
interesting activity,
because I can still
remember myself as a
mentee and how I also
had a lot of question
about the study
program.

PART 2: First semester

Date Description of Participants Short evaluation and Photo in action
and the activity personal reflection
timing
12/10 First peer Jonathan During the peer tutoring
session Travaly, session, we offered
Joséphine them the possibility to
Vermeulen, ask us question about
Paulien Van the courses and the
Acker, upcoming exams. I think
Amélie it was quite interesting
Wyckaert for them and also
and valuable. Again, I
Fran Wens thought it was very
interesting to see how
they have experience
the IBM program so far
and what the courses
are they struggle with
or that they think are
the most difficult ones.
 12/10 Cultural event – Jonathan After the first peer
‘Le Fidèle’ Travaly, session, we also did our
Joséphine cultural activity. We
Vermeulen, went to see the movie
Paulien Van ‘Le Fidèle’. A movie
Acker, with Mathias
Amélie Schoenaerts. I think
Wyckaert everyone enjoyed this
and activity very much and I
Fran Wens myself loved the movie.

PART 3: second semester

Date Description of Participants Short evaluation and Photo in action
and the activity personal reflection
timing
20/04 Second peer Jonathan We did our second peer
session Travaly, session online due to
Joséphine our busy schedules and
Vermeulen, we asked our mentees
Debbie John, how their exams went
Amélie and whether they had
Wyckaert any difficulties during
and the exam period. We
Fran Wens also talked about the
second semester and
tried to help them with
possible problems as
well. I think this peer
session was less
valuable than the first
one, because they
already had quite an
idea about what to
expect and they
managed to explore the
program themselves.
 02/05 Sports and Jonathan For our last activity, we
leisure activity – Travaly, went to the 24 hours of
24 hours of Joséphine the Yucca, a student
Yucca Vermeulen, bar. We thought this
Paulien Van would be a nice activity
Acker, to do with our mentees,
Amélie since we are all students
Wyckaert and we like to socialise
and and have a drink
Fran Wens sometimes. I liked this
activity since it was a
sunny day and there
were a lot people
present and I also think
our mentees liked this
activity.

PART 4: Conclusion
Just like last year, I didn’t really like this assignment. I do think, it’s important to have someone at
the beginning of the first year that you can rely on if you have questions or problems. However, I
don’t like the fact that we have to do all these obligatory activities. I think it’s more efficient for the
mentees to just ask us questions whenever they want to via Facebook or by sending us a message
and not just at pre-specified moments for which we have to come together. Besides this, it’s also
very difficult to get everyone together and to find a date that fits everyone’s schedule. The second
year of IBM is very busy and we have to reach a lot of deadlines, limiting the dates we can meet up
with our mentees.
Overall, I think our mentees did enjoy the activities we organised. In my opinion, I think they liked the
movie the most, but I didn’t really ask them, so it’s just my own opinion of their reactions. Like I said,
I found it very difficult as a mentor to get everyone together. As for what enjoyed about being a
mentor professionally, I do like to have responsibility, so I also like it when people rely on me, when I
can help them.