The volunteer tutors and mentors are in essence the driving force behind GT Scholars, and it’s always great to learn more about them and why they’re passionate about working with young people. We’ve had the privilege of interviewing one of our volunteering English tutors, Sarah, who recently shared more about how she helped her tutees improve their English grades. She also shares a little bit more about her background and why she decided to become an online volunteer tutor with GT Scholars.

Please tell us a bit about yourself?
I work for a local council in London, mainly dealing with contracts and finance. In terms of volunteering, I’ve never done anything like GT Scholars before. I have tutored adults in Spanish and I’ve done volunteering for the NHS and legal charities, but that was always to do with procurement. So this was a new experience for me.

What made you decide to become a volunteer tutor?
During the lockdown, I felt like I needed more opportunities, so I thought it would be nice to do some volunteering. While I was looking around for volunteering opportunities, GT Scholars came up. I thought it sounded interesting and would be something quite rewarding to do. My mom was a teacher, so I understood how rewarding tutoring could be. I thought this would be like a micro version of that, but much easier because you are tutoring one student for one hour.

How did you get started as a volunteer tutor with GT Scholars?
I saw an advert on Do-it.org and I applied. I spoke to Taryn where she told me a bit about the role. She said GT Scholars were looking for English tutors at the time, which was perfect because that’s what I wanted to do! I just went through the process and then I got matched up with my first tutee and went from there.

What did you enjoy most about tutoring your scholar?
There were a couple of things I enjoyed. It’s nice to meet young people because I don’t get to meet them in my everyday life and it’s great to learn more about them. The most rewarding thing for me, which I saw with the first girl I tutored, is that she was growing in confidence and getting better week by week. When I spoke to her mom, her mom said that she feels a lot more confident. She felt like she could do her exams now and that she was not as worried as before. That just made me feel happy, that she felt like that and that hopefully, I had helped her get to that stage. Although, you know, the majority of it was because of her hard work.

What goals have you helped your scholar to achieve?
I’ve had two scholars. The first tutee wanted to focus on exam papers only. She wanted to get confident and, I suppose, improve at answering the exam questions. Throughout the term, she went from being able to do paper one at a certain standard to doing paper one and two at a much higher standard, moving her a level up. I believe she achieved her objectives.

The second tutee was a little bit more challenging because she went overseas a lot and we had some issues with missed lessons. She wanted to gain a better understanding of what the exam papers would be like and what it was like to sit in on an exam. I think we’d built her familiarity with the exam papers. And again, her level improved over the term.

What challenges have you helped your scholar to face?
One of the things that my first tutee struggled with was answering questions on how the structure of text created effects on the reader. We went through various sessions to help build her confidence and understanding in that area. The other challenge was timing, allowing the right amount of time to answer questions in the exams so that they are not rushing at the end. We just practised various techniques they could use for that. 

Both my tutee’s had the same approach to answering questions in English, which was to write and not necessarily plan their answers. I had to work with them and show them that you don’t need a plan for short questions, but that it is beneficial where longer ones are concerned.

What challenges did you face while tutoring your scholar?
I did find it a little bit tricky when I first started tutoring. With my first tutee, I didn’t have the training to teach someone how to approach an exam. I searched for resources online and used some of the links that I had from GT Scholars to try and get materials together. I also familiarised myself with the exam papers because they’re different from the ones I wrote 20 years ago. I think it was just about doing research and putting materials together so I could give a good session.

I found it difficult if one of my tutees would suddenly ask a question that was completely unrelated to the session that we were having. It would be about something else they were finding challenging and because I hadn’t planned for that, I just had to kind of answer as best as I could and then potentially get some more materials together for them outside of the sessions.

Why do you think mentoring is valuable to young people?
I think it’s helpful in two ways. The first is that they get personalised attention where it might be difficult for their teacher to give them because there are so many other students. Helping tailor something to that particular student in a slightly different way is what will help them understand things better. So it’s that kind of personal attention that is beneficial. 

The second thing is that mentoring builds confidence. Both my tutees struggled with this as they believed they were not good at it. But it wasn’t true at all. That was just their perception and all they needed was positive feedback to build their confidence. This allowed them to try something that they were previously scared to do.

What do you think is the most important skill to have as a volunteer tutor?
You need to be quite flexible in your approach to tutoring. You have to try different ways of delivering the same information. So, for example, one session I did was about Grammar. I realised one of my tutees was struggling a bit with some areas of Grammar and the way I presented it was not working since they struggled to grasp it. I had to explain it in a completely different way. Instead of having this table of information, I started using examples. I got some texts and showed them examples. Sometimes, the student might need you to work through a particular question with them first before they try it by themselves. They might prefer to try it by themselves, and you go through it together. It’s just whatever works for that particular individual and you only know these things once you start.

What was the experience as a volunteer English tutor like for you?
I think it was hard work sometimes, as everything is, but it was good. It was rewarding when the students would say that they understood something, or they felt more confident or were looking forward to the next session. I also like the fact it’s one on one. I think that’s beneficial because, as I said, it means you get to give the student personalised attention. It’s been a fun, challenging, rewarding, and positive experience.

Would you recommend becoming a tutor with GT Scholars?
Yes, definitely. I’ve told some people about it actually, as I think it’s a good thing to volunteer. With some voluntary activities, you don’t get the feedback that tells you that what you’re doing is having an impact. With the GT Scholars programme, you do get that feedback because you get it from the student. You can see the student improving. And when you speak to the parents, they will also give you feedback. I think being a tutor with GT Scholars is a great thing to do.

What have you gained from volunteering with GT Scholars?
I think it’s just a positive thing to do as it makes you feel happy to know that hopefully, you’re making a difference in someone’s life by giving them more confidence and helping them to improve. While tutoring English, I was reminded of why I enjoyed it at school and what I enjoy reading. So in that way, it’s been good. If you find out what subjects they prefer, you can almost tailor your tutoring to that specific subject. So with English, you can make it quite technical. If they enjoy the technicality in the lessons, then present it in that way.

What would you say to anyone thinking of becoming a tutor with GT Scholars?
Go for it! Make sure that you use all the materials that you get. What I liked, through the GT Scholars matching process, is that I had students who were quite similar to me in personality. I think that’s good because it means it’s easier to build a relationship with them, and that makes the tutoring better.

For this spotlight interview, we had the pleasure of sitting down with Iona, a Geotechnical Engineer working in the offshore wind industry. It was great to hear about her experience as a mentor and why she decided to become a volunteer mentor. She also shares more about the goals she helped her scholar achieve and what she’s gained from volunteering as a mentor with GT Scholars. It was great to hear how passionate she is about helping young people achieve their goals!

Please tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m currently a Geotechnical Engineer. I work in the offshore wind industry, where I design offshore wind turbine foundations. I did my undergraduate and PhD at Oxford. After completing experiments as part of my PhD, I decided to move into the industry and apply those skills in the real world.

Tell me a little bit about you and what got you to where you are today?
At school, I enjoyed Science and Maths, Art, and more practical subjects. I did a bit of research and decided that engineering might be a good fit. I did what’s called a Head Start residential course, where you can go and stay at the university for about four days. They give you a taster of what it’s like to study that subject at University. Doing this convinced me that engineering was a good fit for me and gave me the confidence to apply for it at University.

What made you decide to become a volunteer mentor?
While I was at university, I engaged in quite a bit of outreach work and found it rewarding and wanted to continue that when I moved to London. I feel that I’ve benefited from lots of advice from different places, to help me get to where I am today. I think that the inputs that you get from people who are outside of your school or family can be helpful and can maybe help build confidence in big decisions. I felt that I could give back and be involved with young people, to hopefully help navigate through some of the big decisions.

How did you get started as a volunteer mentor with GT Scholars?
I applied to GT Scholars online, and I was open to being either a mentor or a tutor. I wasn’t quite sure how I could or would be most helpful, so I spoke with GT Scholars about what might be best. I decided a mentor would be a good idea. We had online training, which was thorough and put me in a good position to take it on.  

What did you enjoy most about mentoring your scholar?
It has been rewarding to see the scholars that I work with build their confidence through our conversations. We’ve discussed such a wide variety of topics. From revision and studying strategies to personal strengths and weaknesses and how that impacts the way we study and learn and build relationships. It’s just been great to provide support, and a bit of a sounding board, through this period as well, with school being on and off and having a lot of uncertainty with exams.

What goals have you helped your scholar to achieve?
At the start, we set a lot of goals for the kind of grades to achieve, and of course, that’s been almost impossible this last year, so we’ve planned more short-term goals. We’ve focussed quite a lot on discussing subjects such as the growth mindset and understanding strengths and different personalities. We did this during the period when there was uncertainty in school, so we turned our focus away from exams, which I think was helpful. Recently, I’ve helped my scholar plan revision. We are trying to minimise stress by prioritising the different tasks, particularly now where there’s quite a lot coming up at once. 

What part of the volunteering process have you found the most fulfilling?
I suppose just being there to support someone else through this strange year, knowing that I have made some small contribution to their life. I think it’s valuable in having or being exposed to experiences or opinions or just advice from someone outside of your school or family life, providing a slight alternative touchpoint.

What do you think is the most important skill to have as a volunteer mentor?
Listening and communicating are valuable skills to have as a mentor. Being able to lend an ear to whatever is going on and trying your best to think of creative ways to discuss it further. Having meaningful conversations is a really crucial part of mentoring.

What was the experience as a volunteer mentor, like for you?
It’s been a great experience and nice to feel that you’re making a difference. And from GT Scholars, it’s been a smooth experience with excellent communication. I have felt very well supported throughout the process.

How important has support been in getting you to where you are today?
Support has been essential, particularly with big decisions. You lean on those around you to help you out with those decisions. One of the reasons I think mentoring is so valuable is that it’s providing an alternative form of support, which can be really valuable.

What have you gained from volunteering with GT Scholars?
I’ve developed my communication skills. I don’t usually talk to young people that much, so I had some learning here. I’ve also learnt from some of the worksheets I’ve done together with my Scholar – for example on ‘growth mindset’!

What would you say to anyone thinking of becoming a mentor with GT Scholars?
I would say give it a go. The commitment is manageable. But at the same time, it’s enough of a commitment to feel like you’re involved in something good. The support from GT Scholars is also excellent, so you should feel well supported. I definitely recommend volunteering as a volunteer mentor with GT Scholars.

Volunteer spotlights are always so inspiring and in our latest volunteer spotlight interview, we had the chance to sit down with Antonio who has been a volunteer mentor with us for almost two years. During this interview, he shares more about his passion to diversify the architecture sector and how volunteering with GT Scholars has helped him to reach out to more young people about careers in architecture. You can read the full interview below.

Can you please tell me a bit about yourself?
I’ve been working as a qualified architect since 2012. I’m currently working in a practice that focuses on private residential homes and also some social housing. During my career, I worked on many fascinating and interesting projects, including a museum in Brixton.

What made you decide to become a volunteer mentor?
I’m really passionate about trying to diversify the architectural profession. Being of dual heritage, I’m very aware that architecture generally doesn’t attract people from diverse backgrounds. I think that architecture can benefit from having more voices from all sorts of different backgrounds. I think it would be great if we can diversify the profession. Being part of the Online Careers Summit helped me reach out to young people. The session helped them believe that they can be architects and understand what architecture is all about.

How did you get started as a volunteer mentor?
I first signed up to be a mentor because I’m at a point now in my career where I’ve got lots of experience and knowledge, and I’d like to share this with people. Mentoring with GT Scholars offers a platform for this. It’s a great way to get positive outreach for the goal of diversifying the profession. I think I’ve had two mentees so far, one long-running and one who wants to be an architect as well. That’s been a really great experience. Hopefully, I assisted her and helped her understand how to become an architect. I was glad to be part of that process.

What part of mentoring have you found the most fulfilling?
It is rewarding to share knowledge that I’ve gained along the way. I love to work, collaborate and share knowledge with other people. It’s nice to be able to give back to people. Having built up experience, knowledge, and expertise myself, I think mentors can be crucial. It’s quite an important role to undertake because you’re offering your expertise in a particular field that they might be interested in or anything in life that they might be facing. So it’s a key role for young people to help them find the right path and build the right career path going on from that as well. I’ve enjoyed taking that responsibility and helping others to find out where they want to go in life.

What goals have you helped your mentees achieve?
One of the main things is goal setting. It’s helping them to find out what they want to achieve and what goals they want at this stage in their life. Where do they want to be? How do they want to achieve it? And how do they get there as well? Mentoring is a great way to open someone’s eyes to the many possibilities out there. 

Did your mentees have any challenges, and how did you help them overcome these challenges?
The challenges have been more about understanding, especially with the most recent mentee who is interested in becoming an architect. The challenge for her was understanding what an architect does. It was getting her to see what I do day in and day out because it’s not just about designing buildings. It’s about designing buildings that work for people. One of the main things is helping to create expectations and an understanding of what she’s interested in and what that means in real life. Rather than just knowing that she wants to design buildings.

Did you face any challenges while mentoring?
Before having worked with GT Scholars, the challenge I had was to define my role specifically. There’s a great guide from GT Scholars about what to do and excellent guidelines and templates that you can follow. I had to negotiate with an individual and figure out what they needed to get out of this process. The challenge for me is trying to negotiate that system and understand how to get the most out. I guess that the other issue is that we’ve had to do this online quite often (during the pandemic). That makes it difficult to gauge people’s reactions, even though you can see their faces. It’s hard to gauge people’s reactions without being in the same room as them. 

As a mentor, what do you think is the most important skill to have?
I think that one of the important things is to be patient with young people. You have to remind yourself that you’re working with young people and trying to help them to get to the place that they want to be. Sometimes, they might not know where that place is. One of the key skills is to be patient and listen to your mentee to try and understand what they’re going through.

How important has support been in getting you to where you are today?
I think support is very important. I’ve never actually had a mentor, although I’ve always tried to find one throughout my career. I’ve tried to find people who I can learn from and look up to. As I said, I haven’t had an official mentor before, but finding people that you can build a support network through, is important. It makes it easier to set goals and to help you achieve those goals. The better your relationships are with your colleagues, and the bigger your support network, the more assistance you’ll have to reach those targets.

How has the experience as a volunteer mentor been for you?
I’ve been really lucky and grateful to volunteer with GT Scholars. I have found them to be supportive. If I had any questions during my mentoring sessions, the GT Scholars team has always been there. They have all helped enable me to perform better in my role as a mentor. Additionally, during the Careers Summit, the team at GT Scholars created loads of helpful information to help us through that process.

What did you gain from volunteering as a mentor?
I found it rewarding to work with young people and hopefully helped them achieve their goals. It also gives you better leadership skills and more skills in dealing with young people. That can only be useful as I go through my career as I’ll need to consult with young people when I design buildings.

Would you recommend anyone to become a volunteer mentor?
Yes, absolutely! I find it interesting and exciting. Even though you get to meet young people in my line of work, you don’t meet them in that same capacity. They’ve got fascinating minds, and it’s exciting to work with people of that age.

What would your message be to anyone that’s now thinking about volunteering or becoming a mentor?
I would say go for it! Do what you can to help people out! If you’ve got the time, passion, and desire to do this, no matter your age or experience. Nothing is stopping you, and GT Scholars will help you perform well in your volunteer mentor role!