<p>I was a mentor for international students at my undergrad in the 2009-2010 year. Regrettably, due to overloading myself too much during the year and some personal reasons, I couldn’t fulfill the basic mentor responsibility as designated by the mentorship program, which included personally meeting my mentees at least four times in the semester, attending at least two mentorship-hosted events together and attending monthly mentor team meetings (the only thing I satisfied).
The fact that I couldn’t fulfill the basic requirement was not only bad for the program and my mentees, but also myself. I feel I didn’t get what I initially wanted out of the program (eg. increased ability to communicate and help someone) and I also feel indebted to the program for not having done my part. So I reapplied to become a mentor for the 2010-2011 year and got an interview which is in a few days. I’m worried if the interviewer might ask me why I couldn’t fulfill the responsibility last year and why I’ve reapplied to become a mentor. How should I answer this? If I tell them the truth, then I won’t look so desirable because they would think I’m not a good time manager, which isn’t really why I couldn’t fulfill the requirements. I’m confident that I’ll be able to exceed, let alone satisfy, the basic requirements for the 2010-2011 year since I won’t make the same mistake of overloading myself. I also figured out how to manage my personal issues. Additionally, I’ve obtained some really great books on mentorship. I haven’t read them yet but reading them will prepare me well to become a great mentor. But still, what should I say if the interviewer mentions my previous inability to fulfill the basic requirement?</p>
<p>If I were you, the truth is exactly what I would give them. Tell them what happened last year, and then, just as you did on your posting here, assure them that it won’t happen again because you’ve learned from last year’s mistakes. If you try to construct some sort of reason why you failed last year, instead of the truth, it will bite you in the butt. Do you really want to get into a program like this on false pretenses? Seems kind of ironic to me haha…</p>
<p>Agreed. Admit your mistakes and convey that you’ve learned better and your eagerness to do better, for all of the reasons you mentioned. The interviewer may or may not go for it, but I personally think it is a compelling reason to accept your application. Good luck!</p>