Being a COLA Peer Mentor has engaged me more with a diverse population of people, with different backgrounds and experiences. I want to become a clinical psychologist, so being able to interact with mentees is an introduction to working with people. A lot of my mentees share their problems and struggles, and as a peer mentor, I provide assistance and support to help empower and encourage my mentees. I utilize UNLV resources, outside resources, and my own experiences to provide the appropriate guidance for each individual. The way this internship has benefited my future career was by exposing me to an experience that involves working with people with unique experiences and different challenges, allowing me to build my skills in communication, critical thinking, and empathy. I believe these skills are crucial to being a clinical psychologist.
The internship ties into my psychology major since I get to share resources and advice for students also interested in psychology. The mentees I worked with were either psychology majors or minors, so I got to share my knowledge in the field of psychology and provided a lot of assistance with the requirements for their careers that revolved around psychology. A lot of my mentees wanted to either go to grad school, law enforcement, medical school, or business-related matters. I was able to guide them to relevant resources, like research labs, psychology-related clubs, COLA internships, and career coaches to advance closer to their desired careers.
Some of the requirements I believe I needed beforehand to be successful in this internship would be public speaking, research skills, excel skills, and communication skills via email.
Although being a peer mentor is not the same as being a clinical psychologist, it still shares some similarities as an introduction to the career. I have found myself more interested in working as a clinical psychologist because I feel satisfaction in assisting others and having a positive impact. I also love a team dynamic of different perspectives.
To be successful in the role, you also need to be pretty good at research and know how to apply research as an intervention. Being a clinical psychologist is all about research. Some of the training, education, skills, or experiences you need to gain to secure a full-time position in this field would be crisis management, non-crisis management, empathy and emotional training, data management, research skills, confidentiality training, and time management.
My advice for incoming interns: it is a learning experience with many challenges. You may learn what you love or hate about the field. You may even discover a field isn’t right for you. Regardless, it is a valuable experience to build your skills, gain more skills, and a chance to get to know yourself and others. Whether you decide to remain in the field or change your career after interning, you will still gain experience that will help you grow professionally and personally. Lastly, you have people to support you! Don’t expect yourself to be super amazing at everything during your internship. Do your best, have fun, and be ready for a changing experience!
It sounds to me that you have gotten quite a lot out of your journey as a mentor. Sharing your knowledge with your mentees who have simliar interestings in psychology absolutely can benefit both you and your mentee and surely helped refine and reinforce your undesrtanding of the subject. The skills you mentioned – crisis and non-crisis management, empathy and emotional intelligence, data management, maintaining confidentiality, and time management – are absolutely vital for anyone looking to secure a full-time position in pretty much any field. Thank you for sharing your experience.