Q&A with Vincent: How Our Senior Mentors Help Students Develop Executive Functioning Skills

A: Strong executive functioning skills—such as task initiation, prioritization, and flexibility—allow students to complete tasks effectively, efficiently, and reliably, creating an incredibly strong foundation for academic success. By helping students develop this foundation, mentors empower students to assess exactly where their strengths lie, as well as areas for further growth. This is where soft skills come in handy: with strong communication, conflict resolution, and collaborative abilities, students will be able to confidently seek support that strengthens their weaknesses and step up when they can lend a helping hand to others. Essentially, EF and soft skills help students help themselves, and are important not only for academic success, but for social and emotional health as well!

A: Soft skills show up directly on a student’s application in two areas: the activities list and letters of recommendation. Admissions officers want to accept students who are leaders in their communities, and this is often reflected through holding leadership positions in extracurricular clubs and organizations. The way to earn these officer positions? Mostly through election by your peers! Students with strong soft skills will be better able to show up for their communities as capable leaders and are thus more likely to be elected to lead within those communities. Additionally, teachers and advisors recognize students who have strong soft skills and will mention these qualitative strengths within recommendation letters. Think about which adjectives describe a student with strong soft skills: they are reliable, hard-working, and pleasures to have in class…and on campus!

A: The most common strategies I use with my students to combat procrastination are organization and goal-visualization. Following the S.M.A.R.T. model, I work with my students to create goals for themselves that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Often students know where they want to end up, but don’t know where to start. Together, my students and I map out a plan of small, actionable steps that allow them to make steady progress while avoiding feeling overwhelmed. Progress, even in small doses, is invigorating; once students can clearly picture where they’re headed and understand the steps to get there, then all they have to do is go! I’m there as their guardrail and their cheerleader, keeping them on track and encouraging them to go full-speed ahead!

A: I always say that the number one solution to stress is preparation. Helping students become better organized often helps them feel in more control over their schoolwork and their lives. One of the main ways I help my students get organized is by putting together an Ideal Weekly Calendar, mapping out when they’ll take time to complete homework, study, and fulfill extracurricular commitments. After defining for themselves what ideal time management looks like and comparing it to their current habits, my students and I strategize ways to tackle their busy schedules productively, healthfully, and joyfully. When students can recognize what’s in their control and what’s out of it, they can focus their energy towards the areas that matter and let the rest—and the stress—go!

A: Setting and achieving goals is a muscle that gets stronger every time you do it. What mentors do is guide students through those initial reps of goal-setting and achievement, then help students scale up their goals in ways that are challenging but manageable. Through this process of modeling and scaling, students learn self-sufficiency in goal-fullfilment, which is what allows them to succeed independently in college and beyond!