We are excited to feature Yulia Endang who became an Uplifters Mentor in April 2022. Mentors are among our most experienced Team Leaders. Yulia will focus on supporting Team Leaders in their Uplifters’ journey while contributing to the development of existing and new initiatives through input on strategic decisions related to the Uplifters programme.
Below, Yulia discusses her role as a Mentor and how much she learned through this experience.
“Being a mentor brings new things to the table which is different from what I experienced as a Team Leader. But it’s hard to say whether it’s easier or more difficult.
When I was a Team Leader, I was mainly focusing on my students and their lessons. Each month, I was connecting with 20 new students, sharing with them the method that works for me and managing the class according to my schedule.
Since I’m a Mentor, I connect directly with a few different Team Leaders, observing the different methods they use to handle their class as well as their different schedules. At the same time, I keep checking on how the students are doing.
Basically there are different challenges between being a Team Leader and a Mentor. I believe that becoming a Mentor at Uplifters will open up doors for further leadership opportunities, though with my current work and the different activities that I have so far I decided not to take up any leadership role anywhere else.”
For Yulia, Uplifters is the first community where she started her leadership journey.
“I feel there is a lot more to learn about being a mentor. It needs time and commitment. I also do believe leadership could be applied in every aspect of our life.
This journey with the Uplifters’ community has taught me about friendship, open mindedness, responsibility, respect and commitment. Being part of the core team, I realised that it is more than just being in a group chat with a group of people. It’s about uplifting each other.
I’m here to support our Team Leaders, without judging their methods or the amount of time they can spend online with the community. Our team leaders are committed to helping our students throughout the course, that’s what matters and we are very grateful for that. “
Yulia explained that becoming a mentor helped her gain self-esteem and speak for herself.
“Listening to the different stories shared by the students and our Team Leaders made me realise that I’m not all alone. This is a safe space where we can share our experience without feeling anxious of being judged.
With the self-esteem I gained through this journey I feel more confident to speak up and discuss things out instead of being silent and just saying ‘yes’ to everything.
With this new responsibility given to me at Uplifters, I feel that it has had an impact on my personal life. For instance, I am trying to be more disciplined with my schedule, be more flexible and open to new ideas, have a better understanding that not everything is about right and wrong, and be a good listener. I also try to control my emotions better when something does not go as I would like. I think this last point is very important, not only when we work in a team, but also in our daily life, our family and our environment.”
