4SED Mentor Spotlight: Sima Arslan

At 4SED, we not only prime our students for college application season with successful and personalized mentorship, we also prime our students for the workforce as well. Our mentees go on to become mentors, helping future students who are in the same positions they were. We encourage a culture of compassion and gratitude, sharing our successes instead of gatekeeping strategies and advice behind a paywall. We interviewed 4SED alumni Sima Arslan on her work as a mentor, and what it means to her.

What does your work entail?

Sima: “My work, in definition, entails meeting with my mentees every week to go over any portion of their college application that they need help with; whether that is essays or finding ways to fill out the activities section. However, my work also entails getting to know all my mentees on a personal level to the point where I am able to offer viewpoints on how they can show themselves in the most genuine of ways.”

What makes you excited about mentoring?

Sima: “Being a mentor is not simply a job but something that makes me feel as though I can make an impact. Throughout the cycle, the mentees get to know themselves better as they explore ways to describe their quirks in such a concise manner. Seeing them slowly gain a better awareness of themselves is always a great feeling and, of course, when their decisions are made, hearing comments about my impact on their applications is truly an amazing experience.”

Any advice you wish to give to the reader?

Sima: “My advice to anyone regarding college applications is: "Do your best" is always said but what does that mean? In the end, if everything goes badly and you get rejected from everywhere, you should look back and think that you could not have done anything differently or better. This is "what do your best" means because if you showed yourself in the truest of ways and did not get accepted, then it simply was not meant for you. “