New Generation Academy (NGA) has a diverse student body. Each year it welcomes students from all over Kyrgyzstan as well as from Afghanistan and other countries. NGA students usually face certain difficulties in adapting to a new academic environment, especially those students coming from the remote parts of Kyrgyzstan who are less prepared for a university level study in a liberal academic environment. International students on top of the academic adaptation are faced with challenges associated with the integration into a local culture. Having all this, NGA Peer Mentoring Program has been developed to function as an additional source of student support which is not always available in a classroom setting. The Peer Mentorship Program was initiated in 2013 with the first NGA graduates wishing to help the new comers in their efforts to take the most out of their one prep year. As NGA graduates have had experience being in the Program, they can advise the current NGA students on many issues. NGA graduates, the mentors, help current NGA students, the mentees, not only with their classes or in preparation for the exams, but they also encourage the mentees to actively be involved in the extracurricular activities that NGA and AUCA have to offer. Also they are the experts in the undergraduate student experience, which could be only beneficial to NGA current students who will pass into AUCA. The mentors take a creative approach in helping the mentees to settle into the new schedule and lifestyle of a preparatory program, which turned the Mentorship program into an ‘edutainment’ program. The mentors also gain from mentoring as they improve their communication, leadership skills. Through this Program, the mentors stay connected to NGA and inspirit a sense of helpfulness in the next generation of young leaders. The relationship between the mentor and mentee allow the mentee to have a sense of being connected to the larger AUCA community where they may otherwise feel lost.
