Our learning support and mentoring programs in 90 Australian communities directly help children in need achieve their goals through education.
View all programs Billy has a big heart for helping students plan for life after school
24 August 2022
From awkward silences to priceless conversations: the transformational power of a mentor
Meet Billy, one of our very special volunteers with a big heart for helping students plan for life after school. He shares some of the challenges and unforgettable moments of life as an iTrack mentor.
Q. Why did you decide to sign up to be an iTrack mentor?
I’ve learned a lot from having mentors at different points in my life, and so the opportunity to pass on whatever wisdom I’ve gathered so far in life was something I jumped at. With the benefit of hindsight, I think that your teenage years are when you could probably do with some advice the most (whether at the time you realise it or not!). Some of the things that still stick with me are things I learned back then, from my parents, from teachers, and from others in my community.
Q. What kinds of things did you talk with the student about in your mentoring sessions?
Mentoring sessions can be a little slow to start off with. Students often take a bit of time to warm up and taking the time to establish a bit of a rapport – no mean feat over text – is important. Each student is different, but I typically have found that they’re curious about how the world beyond high school works. Some of the students know what they want to do, so we chatted about university entry requirements, career pathways, and scholarships. Others are in an earlier phase, so we chat about their interests, what their more immediate high school elective choices are, and different possibilities that could open up for them.
Q. What was the most rewarding part of being a mentor?
Having the chance to connect with a student and know that you’ve helped them in some small way. There are some conversations you have where you can see that you’ve been able to trigger an ‘Aha!’ moment for a student or exposed them to a different way of thinking. The excitement that you can see – they start chatting with more questions, very quickly – is very gratifying.
Q. What value do you think the program brings for students?
I think that it can often be difficult for students to have people to talk to about their education in a safe space. Their peers might not think it’s cool to be planning ahead, sometimes their family may not have experience in the avenues that they’re hoping to pursue, and they may perceive their teachers as authority figures, and be nervous about appearing ignorant. iTrack gives them a chance to ask those questions from a friendly adult anonymously, without those worries. I think the most consistent change I saw was students becoming more confident.
Q. What value do you think the program brings for mentors like yourself?
As someone who finished high school multiple decades ago, I think it’s so valuable to be able to revisit that phase of life. You quickly realise that your circumstances are different, and the context that today’s students are in has also changed, and being able to learn about what teenagers today think and care about is such a gift.
iTrack is an online mentoring program over 18 weeks. Students are matched with a trained adult mentor from a professional background to help guide them in their area of interest. Students receive advice and support on their post-school plans in one-hour sessions delivered via secure online chat.
Read more student and family stories in our Spring 2022 edition of Real People, Real Stories
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