Asees Kaur
Statement of Achievement
When I first arrived in Australia in March 2019, it was Week 2 of Trimester 1 which meant I hadn’t had the opportunity to slowly settle in. Everything seemed exciting yet a bit overwhelming considering I was not only straight out of high school but also unfamiliar with the Australian education system. When I went to the library, I didn’t know how to find my books. When it came to academic writing, I had no clue what citations were! I found respite through the support of a Library Student Assistant (LSA) and Writing Mentor (WM). Later during Trimester 2 that year when I saw these roles advertised for employment, I knew that it was time to give back to the community.
Students Helping Students (SHS) roles offer mentors the great opportunity of interacting with a wide diversity of students. Students may have varying levels of education, genders, sexualities, abilities, skin colours, neuro-diversity, states of mental health, body sizes, housing conditions, wealth statuses, languages spoken, citizenship statuses and the list goes on. These aspects of a person’s identity are intersectional. Each individual is different and brings with them their unique intersectionality. I believe it is the role of a mentor to recognise these characteristics and collaborate with the student to find their strengths and build on them together.
In my role as a Writing Mentor, I assist mentees in queries relating to the conventions of academic writing that include unpacking assignment questions, researching, referencing and time management via online zoom and on-campus drop-ins. When assisting a mentee, I make sure to not make assumptions and use the strategy of targeted questioning to my benefit. For example, if a student needs assistance with understanding APA7 referencing, I wouldn’t just tell them that it’s similar to Harvard with mostly just the punctuation that is different and to go have a look at the guide presuming they know there is a guide and they have practised referencing earlier. I would start by asking what they are studying, and what year they are in to be able to understand their experience with referencing. Establishing this knowledge would further direct my questions and personalise the mentoring experience.
Throughout my role, I have actively reflected upon student interactions and the writing mentor service as a whole which has led to making recommendations to the coordinator about ideas for promotion and suggestions for improving the drop-in processes. For instance, I was assisting a student with a very strong accent and I found it quite difficult to interpret their speech leaving me feeling ill-equipped to support such students. Upon discussing this with other writing mentors, I found it to be a common sentiment. I took this to the Writing Mentor coordinator who agreed to have this as a focus area for the then-upcoming training session.
Further, I have contributed to the LANTITE Study Halls program as a Writing Mentor to support students from a range of teaching degrees to prepare for the Literacy component of the Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education (LANTITE). I knew I was up for a challenge since I hadn’t appeared for the test myself. This pushed me in getting familiar with the test components, create my own resource for the study halls and practice the questions which not only benefited the students but also benefited me in gaining the confidence to successfully sit the test. A highlight of the program has been a student recognising me on-campus from the sessions and appreciating my help in helping them pass the test after failing it twice, which evidenced my positive impact through this role.
I have also been an Orientation Ambassador supporting different Orientation Sessions including ‘Tips to Succeed’, ‘Study Support’ and ‘English as an Additional Language (EAL)’ for Orientation Week seminars, as a Writing Mentor. These have been valuable experiences in getting to share my personal story as an International student from a non-English speaking background and share my advice. I have particularly enjoyed giving my input in the EAL sessions in order to let other commencing students from backgrounds like mine know that language learning is a journey and that I was once in their very shoes in order to empower them and help gain confidence. When the opportunity to work on the Student as Partners ‘Developing Strategies for English Language Learners’ project came up, I seized it. I was involved in developing written and video resources and reviewing the modules to help influence positive outcomes for EAL students. This went towards the creation of a short-term EAL course at Deakin available for all students for free. My passion for inclusivity and creating and maintaining safe spaces to aid learning led me to another Students as Partners Project, ‘Inclusive Teaching Toolkit Co-design’ which is being re-designed with the aim to be used by academics not just Deakin-wide, but to set an example for other universities as well. I assisted in co-designing the toolkit along with other students from diverse backgrounds who were all delightfully as passionate about inclusivity as I am. These experiences have made me confident in my ability to contribute to the conception, evaluation and improvement of programs and processes.
During the first year of my degree and after my first observation-based placement, I was surprised to see how different primary schools are in Australia from those in India and sought to say yes to and even create opportunities that would assist me in familiarising myself with the education system. Following this, I asked my placement school if I could volunteer as a teaching assistant in the Foundation learning space. I also participated in the Ardoch Numeracy Buddies initiative available through Deakin to assist primary school students from disadvantaged areas in completing weekly mathematics challenges online through blog posts as a Big Buddy. These experiences helped me feel more comfortable in a new place as well as develop skills and knowledge.
At the end of the second year of my degree, I was recognised as one of the top-performing students in my cohort and invited to join the Access Quality Teaching (AQT) program (previously 'National Exceptional Teachers for Disadvantaged Schools Program or NETDS) by the Department of Education and Training, Victoria. The program places high-performing pre-service teachers at schools in areas classified as 'disadvantaged'. Through being placed in these more challenging contexts, I have been able to develop a wealth of knowledge and skills to cater for highly varied levels of academic ability and exceptional management skills.
In my fourth year, as a part of my coursework, I undertook a literacy-based leadership project wherein I ran a reading club with a small group of 10-12 years old EAL students from a refugee background with low reading comprehension. Over the course of just 4 roughly half-hour sessions, the students were assessed with improvement in their comprehension skills. Leading this project has positively influenced my future professional practice as a graduate teacher.
Since Trimester 3 2021, I have been part of the Outbound Campaigns Mentor Program which involves contacting students via phone and email to support them with different aspects of their studies. Queries can range from using DeakinSync, to study support options, to applying for intermission and anything in between, even parking permits! Within the role, student details including faculty, course, gender, age, commencing or returning, fee type, campus, international or domestic enrolment, use of unit sites and library website, and suburb and suburb-based level of socio-economic status are mentioned to recognise the disadvantage faced by the student. This filters students through separate campaigns and forms the context of our support to them. The campaigns act as a check-in to see how the students are doing and to offer available support. The program has enabled me to support students in helping them stay engaged, seek support and succeed. It has also been a good opportunity to work in a team and learn from each other since mentors too belong to a diversity of backgrounds.
Whilst being involved in an array of leadership roles, I also joined the Success Coaches program, which provides online mentoring to commencing cloud-campus students. Beginning my work in Trimester 2 2022, I was made a Faculty of Arts and Education Success Coach for postgraduate students at very short notice. Being an undergraduate student myself, I took up the challenge and mentored a cohort of about 120 postgraduate students successfully, delivering emails and organising one-on-one zoom sessions on a needs basis. Initially, I found it challenging to judge student needs based on written communication but developed an understanding as I went. It was really rewarding to hear feedback from students using the tips and strategies I’d share in my emails. The experience further extended my skills and knowledge.
Within these SHS roles, I have had conversations with students who were feeling overwhelmed, anxious, stressed and sometimes even irritated via phone, e-mail and in person. I have meticulously applied emotional intelligence in my interactions to best assist students. I draw upon my own experiences and reflections in order to empathise with the student and then provide or direct towards the required support. In all my roles, I endeavour to advocate for all the support services available and encourage others to seek support by sharing my personal experiences with the available services to lead by example. I often used to find myself feeling frazzled after conversations with students feeling the aforementioned emotions. I identified the need to use my self-awareness to de-brief myself, take a break and look after my well-being which is an inherent aspect of leadership.
As a Library Student Assistant (LSA), I have had the opportunity to assist all library users including Deakin students, staff, alumni as well as members of the community face-to-face. Through this role, I bring empathy for the student perspective and experience to the way the library service connects with its core users and seek to empower fellow students, helping them to gain confidence and knowledge in utilising the library’s resources, services, spaces and equipment to the best advantage for their student journey. Continually reflecting on my work, I have always put forward suggestions to my supervisors to improve the library’s efficiency and, thus, the student experience. These include posting more signage for quiet zones, changing seating arrangements for informal study spaces and giving away weeded books to library users. As a member of the Burwood library staff team, I was offered the opportunity to present along with some Burwood Library Advisory Services team members for an LSA Information Session for prospective LSAs. It involved me sharing my work experiences as an LSA and addressing any questions the students had which received tremendous positive feedback from the rest of the team.
Being an experienced Writing Mentor (WM) and Library Student Assistant allowed me to mentor and train newly recruited mentors WMs and LSAs which helped me further develop my leadership skills. An achievement has been being featured in the Burwood library’s campaign. Further, seeking opportunities to improve my practice, I enrolled for the ‘Respect at Deakin’ masterclass offered within the SHS program which left me feeling better equipped to handle certain situations and honed my strategies toward equity and inclusion, something that I am passionate about. Recently, I became a Youth Mental Health First Aider through professional development provided by the AQT program and have already been applying the skills gained in my SHS roles. Overall, this has been another year filled with exciting learning opportunities and I look forward to seeing what my last trimester at Deakin would bring.
Writing this statement of achievement has been a truly reflective experience that has allowed me to reflect on the meaningful impact I have made in empowering a diverse community of learners. My journey at Deakin has allowed me to develop leadership skills within and beyond my degree. Extensive involvement in peer mentoring, student as partner projects, volunteering, and coursework projects has enabled me to build transferable skills such as communication, digital literacy, critical thinking, problem-solving, self-management and teamwork which I will take forward in my role as a primary classroom teacher.
Thank you for your consideration.
