Mi Xue'er, a recent graduate of UIC's Cinema and Television programme, received special recognition for her three consecutive years of work in the Mentor Caring Programme (MCP) during her final year. "My peer mentors took great care of me. So I wanted to pass on that warmth by mentoring the new students and growing with UIC in a different role," said Mi.
Mi Xue'er (first from left) with her MCP group members
UIC's MCP is designed to help new students adjust to university life. The programme pairs faculty members (mentors) and senior students (peer mentors) with incoming students to provide guidance and support. In the academic year 2023/24, 232 faculty members, 411 peer mentors and over 2000 first-year students participated in the programme, and over 600 students have signed up to be peer mentors for the upcoming 2024-2025 academic year.
On 23 May 2024, a ceremony was held and Mi shared her experience as a representative of the peer mentor team. She talked about her experience of organising activities during orientation week to help newcomers understand school life better. She found that by helping first-year students clarify their thinking, she had deepened her understanding of career paths: "I became clearer about what choice would benefit me."
UIC Vice President (Academic) Prof Zhou Yongming delivers an opening speech for the ceremony
Mi Xu'er speaks as a representative at the ceremony
Her partner, Liu Shuyuan, who has also been a continuous participant in the MCP, also shared his three-year journey. "Instead of making more friends, I realised that the most important thing is that if I can help one student with my knowledge and experience, it will be worth it," he said.
Liu Shuyuan with his MCP member
At the 2024 UIC Student Leadership Awards Ceremony, Mi won the Diamond Award and Liu won the Bronze Award. Both winners played responsible and innovative leadership roles and actively participated in extracurricular activities.
UIC Provost Prof Patrick Chau delivers a speech at the award ceremony
When asked how they juggled academics with these commitments, both agreed that once you've chosen these roles, you have to do them for your team; having that conviction makes a lot of things manageable.
Liu adds, "You can develop communication skills later, but responsibility should always be there." He hopes future MCPs will reach out further and help more people.
From MPRO
Reporter: Cecilia Yu
Photos provided by Camelia Deng, Zhang Yutong and the interviewees
Editor: Deen He
