Despite a dislike of Ontario’s colder weather, Yahya Mohamed knew with certainty that Queen’s was the perfect choice for his education. Now he’s paying that forward as both a mentor in the QSuccess International Student Mentorship Program and a part-time Engineering Student Ambassador.
The QSuccess program is open to all first-year international engineering students as a way to ease the transition to university life. As a QSuccess mentor, Mohamed offers guidance and support, and helps his mentees gain necessary skills for a successful year.
Engineering Student Ambassadors give engineering-focused tours and speak about their student experience to prospective students and their families/supports. Mohamed participated in the March Break Open House event at Queen’s recently as both an on-site tour guide and, along with fellow Mechatronics and Robotics student Kenzie Lambert, he co-hosted an Instagram takeover at www.instagram.com/smithengineeringqueens
“I have noticed that Queen’s has a very tight community compared to other universities, especially in engineering,” he says. “There is a lack of competitive atmosphere. Here, there is a community to support you, not compete with you. This is something that I experienced firsthand at Queen’s.”
And as a second-year Mechatronics and Robotics student, Mohamed is happy to now take his turn as a mentor in QSuccess. It speaks to his positive experiences when he himself was a mentee. “I started with the mentorship program as a mentee, and I experienced firsthand the support from the mentor. So I actually felt like I wanted to do something like this to help the first-year students.”
The QSuccess program pairs incoming first-year international students with an upper year, to guide them through the possible pitfalls of being not just a new student but an incoming student in a new country. Mohamed explained how being a mentee in his first year benefited him: “The academic transition was also very hard. For example, getting used to Canadian academics and writing so many reports in English. But the best thing, to be honest, is that I never felt alone with my struggles, or that there was a lack of support with that. It actually feels like you are part of a big community that’s always there to support you.”
One of the biggest pieces of advice that Mohamed has for first year students is to be bold and participate as much as you can in the extracurricular activities. “Try new things,” he says. “You’re already going to a new country! I always feel like putting yourself out there is something that would really help you to get comfortable with everything from academics to extracurriculars to getting to know people.”
Of course, for Mohamed, one of the unexpected delights he found with Queen’s lies within the location itself. Being a near-waterfront campus feels, in his words, “It’s really nice how it’s kind of close to downtown but not downtown. And I love the waterfront. Late night walks by the lake are very helpful, especially at stressful times! Going on a walk by the water is a really nice way to destress with all we have going on in our lives.”
Oh, and about the bitterly cold Ontario winters?
“The first time it snowed, I was so happy!” laughs Mohamed, who originally hails from Egypt. “By the third time I was like, 'Not again! Now I have to go to class in the snow.' I’m used to very different weather than this. I’m from the desert!”
This article is relevant to the following Strategic Actions as defined in the Strategic Plan:
