To support students struggling to make connections amid COVID restrictions, Student Union established the ‘Mentorship Match’ program to connect underclassmen with upperclassmen mentors. SU announced pairings for this project, Feb. 19.

The effort was spearheaded by SU’s Vice President of Engagement junior Arjan Kalra in conjunction with members of the First Year Class Council (FYCC). Kalra said he first recognized the need for older students to give guidance to younger student groups at the end of the fall semester, when some new students were remote and didn’t have as much access to student groups.

Kalra said when he initially started the project, he had low expectations.

“I was under the impression that if one student signed up—one mentee and one mentor—I’d be perfectly happy,” Kalra said. “If one student was more supported, that’s a great step.”

But the numbers have drastically exceeded his expectations, with around 400 students currently signed up. Although those numbers stretched out the project’s initial timeline, Kalra said it has been an extremely fulfilling process to see the student participation.

“It’s very inspiring to see that when students are getting something that they can directly control, like how they support each other, then they really step up,” he said.

When matching mentors to mentees, the organizers had applicants fill out a survey asking a series of questions covering academic interests, personal interests and even favorite movies. From there, the SU members working on the project have attempted to link students together according to specific interests.

Freshman Noah Vermes, the vice president of finance for FYCC, has been helping with the matches.

“It’s learning about a person without knowing really, who they are,” Vermes said. “So you do a deep dive into their interest, and that’s been fun.”

SU is currently focused on this year’s matches, but also hopes to glean information for future use by surveying participants about their experiences.

Vermes thinks that the more personalized relationship will differentiate the project from University programming already in place. “What I really think it comes down to is what we’re offering is something voluntary, that people can choose to be a part of,” he said.

Vermes himself is in the mentee pool and is enthusiastic about his own match. “What I’m excited for is to connect with somebody else on a personal level, to get to know them beyond just their name, pronouns and what they’re studying,” he said.

Junior Nayana Vuppala said that she signed up to share a bit of the college experience that she knew the University would normally be able to offer, in addition to the opportunity to connect with someone new on campus.

“In terms of what most people applying for the mentor program want, it’s honestly just because we feel just as cut off—even though it doesn’t seem like it, even though we’ve had the opportunity to make friends in person,” she said.

Vuppala was especially excited to get assigned her mentee because she knows how valuable upperclassman advice was to her as a freshman.

“The truth is, most people have no idea what they’re doing—which is a good time, because everyone’s bonding over that shared experience,” Vuppala said. “So I think [underclassmen should] have someone to reassure you that whatever you’re doing is completely fine.”