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Urban Synergy is dedicated to providing early career opportunities for young people by connecting them with corporate mentors. Princela is in Year 11 and joined Urban Synergy’s mentoring programme in the summer of 2022. She was then matched with her mentor, Lydia at the London Stock Exchange Group, in preparation for her joining the Dream Big programme that Urban Synergyare running with Willis Towers Watson. Here, Princela shares her experience with working with Urban Synergy.
How did you first hear about Urban Synergy?
My computer teacher signed me and a couple of my classmates up for it. We started off with a virtual meeting that explained what Urban Synergy does and the opportunities available to us if we joined. So we went from there.
How has having a mentor through Urban synergy benefitted you?
Having a mentor really helped me build a lot of skills that I’ll need in professional life. My mentor taught me about different techniques to use when you’re writing a CV or going into an interview.
It really prepares you for future life and builds all those skills you need for work life. It was also really helpful to hear from someone who has gone through it all and knows how it works. Having someone who is dedicated towards helping you grow as a person really helped me.
What industry do you hope to go into?
When I was being matched for my mentor, I said that I wanted to move into corporate communications. So, that’s an industry I'm very interested in.
You recently volunteered at a Food Bank in Peckham with Urban Synergy as part of Dream Big. What was it like helping out there?
It was interesting to see people from all different paths of life. I found it really helpful for me to better understand what other people might be going through and I felt really good giving back to the community. The time flew by so fast that I couldn't believe I was on my feet for like two to three hours.
It was a really good experience and I’m looking forward to doing it again because I think giving back is really important, so the fact that this is one of the requirements for us, I think it is really good because it teaches you to be more selfless and self-aware. I enjoyed it.
What are you up to at the moment? What are your plans for college?
For my sixth-form subjects, I am into social science. So I want to study sociology and psychology. As for my third option, I’m still on the fence about that, maybe politics, economics, or philosophy. But I really enjoy learning about how things work.
What advice do you have for future mentees?
Treasure the time you have with your mentors and make sure that you’re very much willing to learn. Make sure that during all the meetings with your mentor you’re taking loads of notes and because it really will help you in going on in life. Also ensure that you are going into the whole process with an open mind, giving your 100% in all the different tasks you’re given.
Enjoy it because it is a really helpful process and you will meet people who will make a big impact in your life.
How did you feel when you first joined the Urban Synergy programme and how do you feel now?
I definitely feel more confident. There was a presentation I had to do in front of Urban Synergy, which definitely made me more confident with speaking in front of people. I found the mock interview probably the most helpful thing I did. The prospect of having interviews makes me very nervous and anxious but having gone through that and having someone ask you questions that you would be asked in an interview, prepared me in making me realise that it’s not as bad as I thought it was. It definitely made me more confident.