{"id":47535,"date":"2022-11-01T10:54:49","date_gmt":"2022-11-01T14:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/?p=47535"},"modified":"2022-11-01T10:54:50","modified_gmt":"2022-11-01T14:54:50","slug":"a-chat-with-a-mentor-navigator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2022\/11\/01\/a-chat-with-a-mentor-navigator\/","title":{"rendered":"A chat with a Mentor Navigator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Left: Josefina Right:Bolu
Location: Robarts Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Earlier in October, I had a great candid conversation with Josefina, who is one of this year\u2019s Mentor Navigators with Student Life. As a part of the Access & Inclusion Peer Programs, essentially a Mentor Navigator provides mentorship and support for African Black Caribbean, Latin American, Southeast Asian and First Generation students (whose parents\/guardians did not complete post-secondary education in Canada). We began the conversation about the chilly weather and how it\u2019s hard to be stylish during fall and during the cold. Following that, we spoke about what is was like being immigrant, dealing with culture shock even after (in my case) years of being in Canada!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B: Tell me a little bit about yourself<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J: My name is Josefina (ho-se-feena). My pronouns are she\/her and I am 3rd year studying a Specialist in Anthropology and Minoring in Material Culture and Semiotics (the science of symbols). I was born in Peru and I have been a mentor since mid-July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B: I noticed you mentioned two last names, which isn\u2019t super common, what\u2019s that about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J: Yeah, so I do have two last names, one from my mom\u2019s side and the other is from my dads side. This is a very common custom in many Spanish speaking countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B: That\u2019s SO cool! Thanks for sharing. Can you briefly explain what the Mentor Navigator Program is about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J: We have Mentor Navigators to meet the needs of students. We have mentor navigators for African Black Caribbean students, Latin American students, Southeast Asian students and First Generation students. I am one of the Latin American Mentor Navigators. The Mentor Navigators offer supports like one-one appointments. Students can choose this very last minute and you can choose which mentor navigator you get to speak with so it\u2019s catered to you. We also ask that you have to provide a blurb of what your questions are so we can be prepared to answer your questions. There are drop-ins available and you do not have to register in advance for this and it\u2019s more of a group setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B: Can you walk me through how you arrived at the decision to join the mentor navigator team?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J: I am Latin American and I have a lighter skinned and understand the privilege that comes with that. On the other hand, coming to Canada was a huge transition and I found that people can be closed off. I know that many international students go through this and I think it\u2019s important that we provide students with the support to to build your own and be a part of community that they can identify with. I wanted to help ensure that students don\u2019t feel like an outsider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B: What are some things students can expect if they join the program?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J: We provide one-on-one programs which are very casual, like chatting with a friend. You can speak about things that you find challenging, academics, making friends, finding internship opportunities, research. These can be in-person or virtual. The drop-in are also casual, the only difference being that it\u2019s with a group of students. We discuss, everything and anything. We want people to feel comfortable and have a space to destress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B: What is your favourite aspect of your role?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J: Ohh this is a tough one\u2026 but I would say getting to meet many people and the mentees. I love getting to interact with other students that are part of student life and provide support for students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B: How do you see the program changing and are some of the future goals for the program?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J: Right now, we\u2019re working on outreach to increaes the amount of student that are part of the program and we want students to know the program exists and there\u2019s help if they need it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rapid fire question<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

B: Favourite movie of all time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J: Howl\u2019s Moving Castle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B: Favourite hype \/ mood booster song?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J: Persiana Americana by soda stereo<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B: Essential song or artist in your study playlist?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J: All too well by Taylor Swift<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B: Favourite spot to study on campus?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J: Robarts Commons<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B: Most memorable course you\u2019ve taken at UofT?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J: ANT100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B: What\u2019s one advice you\u2019d give to your first year self?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J: Go see an academic advisor, they will help you plan everything to the day you graduate!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B: Favourite way to de-stress and take care of your mental health?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J: I love to cook, doing something with my hands, I also like to draw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B: Any last words or comments to any readers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J: Please book an appointment!! We\u2019d love to meet with you and to chat with you! If you have any questions you can also reach out to me at this email: josefina.novoa@mail.utoronto.ca<\/a> and for more information about the program you can visit our website: https:\/\/studentlife.utoronto.ca\/program\/access-and-inclusion-peer-programs\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\n
\nEarlier in October, I had a great candid conversation with Josefina, who is one of this year\u2019s Mentor Navigators with Student Life. As a part of the Access & Inclusion Peer Programs, essentially a Mentor Navigator provides mentorship and support…\n<\/div>
Continue reading “A chat with a Mentor Navigator”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>
Continue reading “A chat with a Mentor Navigator”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":452,"featured_media":47537,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7206,59,1,70,69,66,6480,67,12683,68],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47535"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/452"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47535"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47548,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47535\/revisions\/47548"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}