THE PROGRAM
The Mentor Program sponsored by Macalester International Student Programs selects returning U.S. and international students to serve as mentors to incoming international students and domestic Ametrica participants. Students will meet their mentors during pre-orientation and will consult with them regularly throughout the semester. Mentors provide a student’s perspective on both academic and personal life at Macalester. Their job is to help international students feel comfortable at Macalester and answer their questions about policies and procedures related to life in the residence halls, campus facilities, registration and academic procedures, as well as questions about U.S. culture and off-campus opportunities in the Twin Cities Metro community.
FALL 2023 MENTORS & PALS
Uditi Chandrashekhar, Program Assistant, (Class of 2024) is from a few different places in India. She is double majoring in physics and psychology with a minor in educational studies. She loves to travel, read, listen to music and have meaningful conversations. She is grateful for the international student community at Mac and hopes to work in student support roles in educational spaces. She started working at ISP in the spring of 2021.
Zhihao Liu, Program Assistant, (Class of 2024), is a rising senior from Nanjing, China, who has also lived in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania for 5 years prior to Macalester. He is majoring in Media & Cultural Studies and International Studies, and minoring in Music and Political Science. He loves playing table-top games and video games, listening to (and playing/singing) music, critically viewing films, and has been trying to get into photography and videography more recently. He also really enjoys travelling and making detailed travel plans (though many of them were never accomplished). Zhihao loves to work with international students as a mentor and program assistant at ISP, and is looking forward to meet even more interesting souls from around he world!!
Xiang Li, (Class of 2024) is a rising senior from Beijing, China. She is majoring in Economics and Statistics, and minoring in Asian Studies. She loves cooking, traveling, playing tennis, and hanging out with friends. She is excited to meet everyone in the coming fall.
Jie (Rachel) Lu (Class of 2024) is a rising senior from Nantong, China. She is a psychology major with a minor in Philosophy. In her free time, she likes to read, play tennis, and go roller skating with friends. She also loves to explore new restaurants and learn new recipes. She can’t wait to meet her mentees this fall and is ready to help their transitions into college life!
Alice Ma (Class of 2024) is originally from Xi’an, China. She lived in Albany, New York for 5 years prior to Macalester. She is majoring in Philosophy and International Studies, with a minor in Economics. She does mock trial in Mac. In her free time, she likes to sing, climb, hang out with friends and read. She is looking forward to making new friends as a mentor.
Tianyi (Raymond) Yu (Class of 2024) is originally from China, and is a international studies and political science double major in Macalester college. He is from a Shanghai and would like to invite everyone come to visit this great city. He likes to read books, play basketball, occasionally do some video editing, taking photos, and lastly, play video game — Honkai Star Rail.
Nibia Becerra Santillan, Program Assistant (Class of 2025) is from Callao, Peru. She was born and raised in Peru, but finished high school in Arusha, Tanzania. She is a Biology major, with an interest in wildlife conservation and considering a Data Science major. Nibia loves dancing -especially Traditional Peruvian dances-, journalling, spending time with loved ones, and trying new things. She looks forward to meeting new students through the mentorship program and as a program assistant at the ISP office.
Ko Horiuchi, Program Assistant (Class of 2025) is from Tokyo, Japan, but has also lived in London, UK. He is a Psychology major who loves to play around with coding and spreadsheets. Ko enjoys playing the violin and is currently teaching himself the piano. He also likes drawing (sketches and watercolours) and taking photographs. He started working with the ISP in the summer of 2022.
Minseo Kim (Class of 2025) is a junior majoring in Economics and Religious Studies. She was born in Seoul, South Korea, but grew up in multiple states in America. She enjoys reading, watching television, and hanging out with friends and family in her free time. She also likes exploring cafes and walking around nature parks. She is so excited to meet everyone this fall and help her mentees adjust to their new life at Mac.
Putri Cahyudi (Class of 2025) is a junior from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and Central Java, Indonesia. She majors in Political Science and International Studies. During her free time, she loves to read, cook, and go on walks (with audiobooks, of course). She’s excited to meet everyone in the fall!
Maya Harrison (Class of 2025) is a junior from Salem, Oregon. She is majoring in international studies and minoring in environmental studies and potentially Spanish. In her free time, she enjoys any outdoor activity (especially hiking), reading, cooking, traveling, and exploring new places with friends. She can’t wait to meet everyone in the fall and welcome the new students to Mac!
Albert Ahn (Class of 2025) grew up in Texas until his family moved to Busan, South Korea where he calls home now. He hopes his unique experience will best help incoming international & domestic students. He is majoring in Neuroscience with a concentration in Community & Global Health. In the mac community, he is a board member of Macalester Korean Cultural Organization and member of the Macalester First Aid. In his free time, he loves cycling, photography, playing ukulele, work out in Leonard Center, play basketball, cook Korean food, play card games
Linh Nguyen, Program Assistant, (Class of 2026) is from Vietnam. She attended high school in Singapore before coming to Mac. She intends to major in Economics and is exploring options for a second major. Linh enjoys reading, having conversations with friends on random topics, and walking around campus. She also loves getting to know new people. Linh started working in the ISP in the spring of 2023
Eline Visser, Program Assistant, (Class of 2026) is from Assen, the Netherlands, but she went to UWC Red Cross Nordic in Norway soo she could potentially call Flekke home too. She is probably becoming a polisci and history double-major and maybe a data science minor, depending on how difficult she wants to make her life. She has a great interests in all these things as she is physically unable to stop talking about politics, especially on international topics. She also has hobbies outside of school though, she recently got obsessively into dancing salsa, volunteering by teaching English and continuously starting to read books that she knows she won’t actually ever finish. Overall, a pretty chaotic girl that can’t wait to meet the lovely incoming international students!
Xander Hall, Program Assistant, (Class of 2026) is grown up in Oslo, Norway, but also has British and American ancestry. He is majoring in both Economics and Mathematics, and has a passion for learning new things. In his free time Xander enjoys playing various sports (rugby, ultimate frisbee, and volleyball, just to name a few), as well as reading and playing board games. He started working at ISP in the fall of 2023, and is looking forward to the upcoming semester!
Sijia Huang (Class of 2026) is a sophomore here at Macalester. She grew up in Shijiazhuang, China. She is planning to double major in Art history and Economics. Sijia loves indie games and drawing, she also enjoys science fiction and comics. Recently she is trying to learn more about traditional Chinese cuisine. She is looking forward to seeing new faces on the campus!
Rishika Kundu (Class of 2026) is a rising sophomore from Delhi, India. She is very passionate about Geography and is doing a Geography and Data Science double major and considering a GIS concentration. She is also a board member of the South Asian student organisation on campus, MASECA. She enjoys cooking, being around nature, and going out on walks. She’s super excited for the next semester and getting to know everyone!
Mayande Mamba (Class of 2026) is a sophomore double majoring in Economics and Mathematics. She was born and raised in a tiny village in the kingdom of Eswatini but hopes to one day travel and explore the world. Amongst other interests, she is way into karaoke, enjoys singing and listening to music and trying different types of food she has never tasted before. She loves smiling and laughing and enjoys fun debates.
Yosephine Manihuruk (Class of 2026) is a Sophomore majoring in International Studies and plans to double major in Political Science. She is originally from Riau, Indonesia but also calls Singapore home. She enjoys reading and watching TV series in her free time. She also loves spending time in coffee shops near campus and exploring good places to eat with her friends. She looks forward to meeting and getting to know everyone as a mentor!
Chantal Pangula (Class of 2026) was born and raised in Germany but her family is from Angola and Mali. She is a Political Science and Economics double major (with a potential human rights concentration). She loves dancing and having long deep talks about anything and everything! One of her favorite things is to travel and learn about new cultures and just have fun. She is super excited to get to know all of you and to have a great time at Mac together!
Flor Perez (Class of 2026) is from Rio Branco, Uruguay. For two years before joining the Macalester community, she studied in Montezuma, New Mexico. She is a sophomore planning to major in Political Science and French, nonetheless still open to finding new interests and areas of study that she might not have considered. Flor finds joy in connecting with people, ideas, art, and nature. In her free time during the past summer, she has been biking, reading, and exploring the Twin Cities and its fun events! She is extremely grateful for having the chance to walk alongside the incoming international students during the mentorship program and new chapter in their lives!
Beja Puškášová (Class of 2026) is a rising sophomore majoring in English, as well as Theater & Dance. She is an international student from the Czech Republic. She enjoys having UWC conversations at lunch, learning languages and playing with sticks. She also likes cooking, going out for boba and drawing. She is looking forward to meeting her mentees and helping them adjust to their new life at Mac.
Winnie Ren (Class of 2026) is a rising sophomore majoring in Anthropology and probably Media and cultural studies. Born and raised in Beijing, China, she really enjoys exploring different cultures. She is a member of the African Music Ensemble and the movie club. In her free time, she likes watching movies and listening to indie/alternative music. She is also a bass player, not very good though. Winnie is super excited about being a mentor and looking forward to meet you all!
Wenhao Wu (class of 2026) is a sophomore majoring in biochemistry and minoring in philosophy. He was born in China, Jiangsu, and lived in Shanghai for many years before coming to Macalester College. He likes to spend a lot of time on thinking, from individual to social problem. He is very glad to share his thoughts with everyone. What’s more, he loves music and playing penbeat. He is excited to meet the cohort of international students.
Lu (Mila) Zhou (Class of 2026) is a rising sophomore from China. She intends to major in statistics and considers a double major or minor in social science. Mila loves dancing, doing workouts and hanging out with friends. She is grateful for the international student community at Mac and looking forward to meeting new people!Where have the ISP mentors been all summer? Check out the 2022 Where in the World Video to find out!
APPLY TO BE A MENTOR
Note: Information about the mentor dean application will be sent to returning mentors directly.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR ROLE AS A MENTOR
As a mentor, you will each be directly responsible for approximately five students as well as aiding fellow mentors with their mentees in the Fall 2023. As students themselves, mentors can answer questions and give suggestions about life, culture and academics on and off campus. Mentors work closely with ISP staff to organize informational, cultural and educational discussions of interest for new students. Other expectations include acting as an information giver, tour guide, encourager, educator and learner.
The hours a mentor works per week vary depending on if whether you are involved with Ametrica facilitation. You can expect to work at least 5-9 hours a week between meeting every mentee in person, journaling, meeting Aaron, Luyen, Molly, or Britt and attending planning meetings. Some weeks may require more hours due to ISP or Ametrica events.
As a mentor you will be required to arrive by August 21, 2023, to begin mentor training on August 22. Plan on being at Mac and available to work until school begins. Mentors will work until late October/early November. Because of this, you may need to find another on-campus job that does not interfere with mentoring. Remember that international students may not exceed 20 hours per week of employment, combining all of your jobs.
UNDERSTANDING THE MENTOR APPLICATION STEPS
Below are the various mentor application steps. Each year, ISP receives many more applications than mentor positions available. We are very strict about deadlines so please note them. This is because we believe that applicants demonstrate responsibility by meeting deadlines, and because we receive far more applications each year than positions available. Decisions on choosing mentors will be made by the ISP Mentor Selection Committee. If you are not certain about an issue and if it could affect your eligibility, please check with Aaron, Luyen, Britt, or Molly. Note, mentor deans (those who have mentored in the past) go through a different process than new mentors, please contact ISP for 2022 mentor dean positions.
To apply to be a new mentor, you must complete the following steps to be considered by the Selection Committee. We hope to notify accepted mentors of our decision around March 1, 2023.
STEP I – INTEREST FORM
The interest form is the beginning of the application process to be a Fall 2023 ISP mentor. You MUST complete the Step I Interest Form to be eligible to receive the full written application, which is Step II of the application process. The Step II Application will only be sent to applicants who have completed Step I.
The interest form is due by 11:59 pm (CST) on Sunday, December 18, 2022. No late interest forms will be accepted after the deadline.
STEP II – APPLICATION + SUBMIT A RESUME
Online application is due by 11:59 pm (CST) on Monday, January 16, 2023. No late applications will be accepted after the deadline.
Additionally, email your resume to [email protected] by the same deadline, 11:59 pm (CST) on Monday, January 16, 2023. No late resumes will be accepted after the deadline.
Tip: We take note of which applicants complete this step early.
STEP III – MENTOR SIMULATION
This is a simulation of being a mentor that gives you the experience of what to expect, and gives ISP a better understanding of your ability to be responsible and follow through. The simulation will run from February 6 – 25, 2023. You will need to attend the training session scheduled for 4:45-5:45 pm on Mon, Jan 30, 2023 or noon-1:00 pm on Tue, Jan 31.
Depending on numbers, participation in the Mentor Simulation (Step III) may be limited to the best applications.
STEP IV – ADDITIONAL CRITERIA
The Selection Committee will review applications according to what degree applicants meet all application criteria. Aside from Steps I-III, additional criteria may be included; such as (the following is subject to change):
- Obtain a U.S. permit/driver’s license and Macalester van certification (very important)
- All van drivers must be a minimum age of 19, have a valid U.S. driver’s license, and complete the following: driving record check, classroom and video training, and a successful behind-the-wheel driving check. Email Facilities Services at [email protected] with questions.
- Complete Bystander Intervention training
- Complete a CPR training course
- Complete a QPR training course
- ISP advisory committee helping other offices, such as Health and Wellness Center
Email any additional application criteria to [email protected] with proof (picture of your permit etc.) by 11:59 pm (CST) on Sunday, February 26, 2023.
MENTOR APPLICATIONS FAQ
Frequently asked questions about the mentor application process. (G-Doc)