3. Peer Bonding

Photo credits: Instagram: @ucbeyondself

Bonding Session for Beyond Self mentors

All mentors from both teams had a bonding session with with our partners from Beyond Social Services. This is because we realised that we had very little interaction between teams, as well as with the community partner directly. Hence, this resulted in a lack of communication and both teams were not consistent in terms of time management during each team's session. This may confuse the children as a result. Hence, through this bonding session, I learnt that there is a need to create clear boundaries with the children by enforcing the Do's and Don't's clearly with them.

I also learnt that since the children are from low income families, they may require more love and support in their social circles, especially from us, the mentors. As such, we need to understand that our presence during sessions alone show the students that we care about them. This also means that the students turning up for our sessions show that they are willing to give us the chance to make a difference in their lives.

In conclusion, I learnt how to appreciate the children's presence during Beyond Self sessions more, even if some of them may not be here to study and are noisy. Greater understanding towards the children will definitely help me to be more patient with them.