Summer 2025
The University of Southampton holds a 5-day annual Electronics and Computer Science summer course for potential applicants. As a mentor I fulfilled a number of roles in the course:
- I acted as a demonstrator in laboratories, teaching students skills e.g. soldering, circuit design, and boolean algebra.
- I worked closely in a team environment other mentors and supervisors to organise activities and deal with any problems that arose.
I was a first time mentor, while many of the other mentors had been there for many years. I learned a lot about how to fit in as a new employee: how to advocate for myself when I needed help, and how to make connections and fit in with the existing group. I also learned how important it was to be prepared (with reading ahead before labs and meeting deadlines), so that the team could be successful in its goals and to ensure my colleagues didn’t have to ‘pick up the slack’ if something went wrong.