Mentorship at the UW

A mentor can provide academic, personal and professional advice, make connections with other people and opportunities, help in identifying goals and make meaning of experiences.  A mentor provides support, empathy, wisdom and respect throughout, and often beyond, one’s educational career. Mentoring can be informal or formal and can take place over a one-time meeting, a few months or over several years.

Why should I become a mentor?

Serving as a mentor can be a powerful experience. You have the unique opportunity to have a direct impact on someone’s life in a very positive way, which is both humbling and rewarding. You can translate your own career path, important decisions you have made, and lessons you have learned into meaningful advice that will support your mentee in their growth and development. In a broad sense, being a mentor is paying it forward for future generations.

Almost any person affiliated with the UW can become a mentor – faculty, staff, alumni, students, volunteers, and community members are all mentors to their peers and/or students.

Learn more about becoming a mentor.

Why do I want a mentor?

Everybody has questions about the future, even if you don’t know what they are yet. And when you’re dealing with new experiences and challenges – an internship, becoming an officer in a student organization, taking your research to the next level – it always helps to have someone with more experience you can turn to. Mentors can help guide you through challenges by listening, asking questions and sharing wisdom gained from their own experiences, without the pressure of grades.

Graduates who report feeling “supported” during college, including by having a mentor, are nearly three times more likely to thrive. When preparing for your future, sometimes you have to take the initiative to go find the support you need. UW offers many different ways to find a mentor, such as alumni matching, affinity groups, and even peer to peer.

Learn more about becoming a mentee.