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Now entering its seventh year, the Faculty of Arts and Science Grad Mentor program is a peer mentoring program that connects prospective students with current MA and PhD students to aid them in their decision-making process.  

The unique program allows prospective students to ask their peers specific questions about the graduate programs in the Faculty of Arts and Science. Prospective students can receive advice on graduate studies and life at Queen’s as a grad student, from someone who has recently been in their shoes. The program also provides graduate students with an opportunity to build on their professional experience by adding mentorship/coaching skills and provides them with an extra source of income to support their studies.

“I received an email from Arts and Science saying they were looking for mentors,” says Sena Gladza (Master’s of Public Administration), who completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto. “My first few weeks here I was a bit confused so I thought to myself, there is probably someone else in my shoes that I can help.”

She explains her strongest skills are communication and time management which will be critical in her mentorship role and working with undergraduate students.

“I want to work with the mentees and their needs. Sometimes you are coming from different socio-economic backgrounds or different races but the feelings of anxiety, of fear, and confusion are still shared. In terms of academica, I did my honours bachelor's degree in political science and human geography and graduated with distinction. During that time, I was interning at Sun Life, I worked part-time, I commuted two hours there and two hours back daily. I can relate to being overwhelmed and I can give my mentees strategies on how to manage it.”

Bala Karchaudhuri (Department of Art History) is returning for a second year of mentoring.

“I enjoyed it. Whoever needed support in our department, I guided them. They were very excited to learn about the programs. It was successful.”

When asked why she returned to the mentorship program, Bala says the answer is simple. “I really like interacting the prospective students and sharing with them the amazing experience I had in my department. I think they always need a student’s perspective. Yes, they talk to their prospective supervisors but it’s important to have a student connection and I was happy to provide that.”

Bala joined Queen’s in 2023 to pursue her PhD after completing all her prior education in India. She says her experience since arriving in Kingston has been extremely positive and she will be able to share that with her mentees.

“Coming here was an amazing experience, and I think that’s because I was surrounded by amazing people in my department. They were so warm and welcoming. Kingston is also a beautiful city – not too big but it has its share of hustle and bustle. It’s really beautiful.”

Two Think Grad Studies events and a number of info sessions are planned for November. Prospective students can register to attend in-person or virtual events or they can meet graduate mentors and ask questions 1:1.

STEM and Interdisciplinary Think Grad Studies events will take place in-person on Wednesday, November 12 from 4:00-6:00 pm in Career Services Workshop Room 302, Gordon Hall, and virtually on Thursday, November 13, from noon-1:00 pm over Zoom. To register for the virtual session, .

Arts, Social Sciences, Humanities, and Interdisciplinary Think Grad Studies will take place in-person on Thursday, November 13 from 4:00-6:00 pm in Career Services Workshop Room 302, Gordon Hall, and virtually on Wednesday, November 12 from noon-1:00 pm over Zoom. To register for the virtual session, .

Learn more about the Think Grad Studies and program-specific events and sign up to meet a Grad Mentor 1:1 on the Future Students webpage.