"Is this the right place for me?": Starting your studies with a mentor

Which courses are important for me? Where do I register? And when and how do I get which information at the university? At the beginning of their studies, there are many unanswered questions. First-year students can get help from the mentoring programme of the RPTU's Office for Equal Opportunities, Diversity and Family Affairs: a mentor, an experienced student, supports her mentee, a first-year student.

‘I have always been interested in natural sciences and wanted to study something in this direction,’ reports Selina Mehl, who is now in her third semester of the bachelor's programme in biophysics – and adds: “My course of studies is an exciting mixture of chemistry, biology and physics.” She really likes this interdisciplinary approach. This way, she does not have to decide until later what her future career should look like. Kira Vogel, who is also studying biophysics in the fifth semester of her bachelor's degree, also appreciates the broad base of her studies: ‘With the three areas, you never get bored.’

Register as early as possible – then you get support right from the start

The two students have a special connection: Kira is Selina's mentor. This was initiated by the Mentoring Programme of the Office for Gender Equality, Diversity and Family Affairs. ‘Our project brings together tandems. These are an older student who is at least in their third semester and a first-year student from the same subject,’ explains Christine Klein, who coordinates the whole thing at the RPTU. The aim is for the more experienced student to advise and support the first-year student during their first two semesters – and perhaps warn them of one or two stumbling blocks. ‘The first decisive criterion in the tandem formation is that both students are studying the same subject. If there is a wider choice, I look for shared hobbies and interests,‘ says Christine Klein, explaining the selection process. She recommends that interested female first-year students “register for the programme as early as possible. That way, you get support right from the start.’

”You have a point of contact with experience’

The mentoring programme first came to the attention of Selina, then a first-year student, via an email that landed in her inbox at the beginning of the 2023/24 winter semester. ‘I was immediately drawn to it,’ she recalls. ‘The transition from school to university is a big challenge. You have to organise yourself completely at university. For example, you have to put together your own timetable.’ The exchange with her mentor was a great help to her in all of this. Mentor Kira, who was herself a mentee just a year earlier, can only confirm the advantages of the programme: ‘You have a contact person with experience. I didn't have to search for everything on the university website myself. There is a person you can ask anything. And you get tips you might not otherwise get.’

Kira and Selina met for the first time in Christine Klein's office – about two weeks before Selina started her studies. ‘After that, the two of us walked across campus. I showed Selina the university library and the cafeteria,’ Kira recalls. A year has passed since then. A year in which the two have been in regular contact. During a stressful exam phase, for example, Selina turned to her mentor Kira with spontaneous questions. She even asked where she could get a lab coat. Selina also remembers another challenging situation: ‘An exam registration date was about to expire. I didn't know how to register. Kira then explained to me that I could register in writing. And that the deadline would be met.’ Kira: ’Whenever Selina asks me something, I always imagine how I felt a year earlier. And I wonder what helped me back then. And that's exactly what I try to pass on.’

‘Thanks to the mentoring programme, I was able to continue my studies’

For Kira herself, starting university was once a unique challenge in the truest sense of the word: she was the only one in her year. ‘That's why the mentoring programme has a very special meaning for me. With the help of my mentor at the time, I went to the professors first. We asked whether courses were even taking place.’ She also noticed how friendly the campus of the RPTU is: ‘You can just knock on a professor's door. I wasn't even aware of that before.’ Through her mentor at the time, she also came into contact with biophysics students from the higher semesters: ‘At the beginning, I had doubts about whether I should continue my studies. But these contacts encouraged me and I continued studying.’

Communicating proactively and preventively as a mentor

What would Kira recommend to future female mentors? ‘The important thing is to stay calm when problems arise. And to show the mentee that there is a solution for every problem.’ She also recommends proactive communication: as a mentor, you can simply ask your mentee – for example after an exam – ‘whether something went well’. Such inquiries are incredibly helpful, as Selina knows from her own experience. And Kira adds: ‘As a mentor, you can also think about what problems you had when you started your studies – and then point them out.’ A preventive approach, so to speak.

Overall, you acquire a wide range of social skills, Kira sums up her time as a mentor. Skills that you can put to good use in your future life and career, not only if you might take on a leadership position at some point. Speaking of career: Where do you want your career to take you later on? Kira: ‘My dream job is to be an astronaut. But I can also imagine working in medical research. After all, my degree programme covers a lot of ground.’ Selina is not yet sure what she wants to do later on. After her bachelor's degree, she first wants to do a master's. In the near future, however, she can imagine becoming a mentor herself.

Workshops and exciting contacts

Help with the start of their studies – a total of 68 female first-year students took advantage of the support offered by the mentoring programme last winter semester. Christine Klein tries to bring all mentees and mentors into regular contact. In addition to joint barbecue evenings or Christmas parties, there are also information events organised by the mentors themselves. The topics covered include experiences with doctoral studies or scholarship programmes. All participants are also invited to workshops where they can develop their soft skills: topics include ‘self-confidence’, ‘learning techniques’ and ‘social branding – developing and expanding a strong personal brand’.

Kira and Selina really appreciate the opportunity to network with the other mentors and mentees. ‘You get insights into things you might do yourself later on,’ says Selina. For example, she once got into a conversation with another biophysicist ‘who is currently working on her doctoral thesis’. Christine Klein believes that precisely this kind of exchange is desirable: the participants should form networks among themselves – establish exciting contacts. ‘Sometimes you might have a low point during your studies,’ Kira sums it up, ‘but the exchange shows that all the effort is worthwhile. The mentoring programme shows you the cool things that are possible.’

Author: Christine Pauli

Would you like to take part in the mentoring programme for female first-year students?

The registration phase for the winter semester 2024/25 has begun.

Further information is available from:

Christine Klein

Mentoring for female students

Equal Opportunities, Diversity & Family Office

in Kaiserslautern

Mail: zv-mentoring[at]rptu.de

or at

Mentoring for female first-year students - RPTU Rhineland-Palatinate Technical University Kaiserslautern-Landau

Due to the high level of interest in mentoring among female first-year students, the team at the Equal Opportunities, Diversity and Family Office is pleased to welcome additional female students in higher semesters who have the time and inclination to support a female first-year student as a mentor at the start of her studies. Christine Klein will be happy to tell interested students more about it.