Pay-It-Forward Mentorship Programme 2022: Human Library

On 23 June, YWLC’s Pay-It-Forward (PIF) Mentorship Programme organised its first in-person event after 2 years! It also marked the midway mark of this year’s PIF programme. Held at Heartbeat@Bedok, PIF’22 participants were invited to browse different “books” and mingle with their fellow participants during a Human Library event.

For those who are unfamiliar, the Human Library is a concept which replaces books with people. Each of these “books” take part in the library and share their unique stories. In a Human Library, people are on loan to readers, giving readers the opportunity to listen to their stories first-hand. The “books” for this event included guests from a wide variety of backgrounds, including entrepreneurs and professionals from Fintech, Engineering, Law, Media & Entertainment, Health & Wellness, Education, and the Arts. During the event, PIF’22 participants spoke to different “books” across 4 20-minute rounds. In each round, the “books” provided a short introduction of themselves before fielding questions from the group. These questions ranged from what led them to their current professions, the challenges that they’ve faced in the workplace, and key life lessons that they’ve obtained in their respective journeys.

After 4 rounds, PIF’22 participants regrouped in their tribes and talked about their takeaways, something that they’d like to learn more about after the event, the type of stories they’d want to tell in the future, and upcoming chapters they’re looking forward to in their lives. The event ended with everyone standing in a circle, reflecting on what they’ve learnt from one another’s stories.

When reflecting on the event, Sandra Tan, a PIF’22 mentee, said, “I found it very interesting as I got to learn many new insights from the sharing!” Angela Tham, another PIF’22 mentee, agrees. “I really enjoyed myself! I learnt so much from each book that I was allocated to.” Mentors had a fun time with their mentees at the session too! Fiona Lim, a PIF’22 mentor said, “I found the day very well structured and engaging. It was also interesting as a mentor since I got to understand my mentee better”.

Everyone has a story to tell, a lesson to teach, and wisdom to share. We hope that these open conversations helped PIF’22 mentees receive valuable advice and new perspectives on the various pathways they can look forward to as they step into their bright futures!

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YWLC’s PIF Mentorship Programme is a 6-month mentorship programme in partnership with the International Women’s Forum (IWF) and ITE College Central. YWLC members mentor budding young adults from IWF and ITE that are driven to learn. Mentor-mentee pairs from this programme consistently learn and bring out the best from each other.

For queries about the programme and YWLC’s Social Impact initiatives, email impact@ywlc.org.sg.

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Organising Committee: Social Impact Organising Team: Audrey Tim, Dayna Ho, Nicolette Tan, Ong Yi Ling, Sherryn Tham, Low Xuan Yi, Nicole Lum, Gwen Liau Partners: ITE College Central, International Women’s Forum Singapore, Kampong Chai Chee Youth Network

Guests: Maeve Woh, ZiQi Lin, Natalie Alexandra Tse, Zhaomin Wang, Ashley Goh Xin Ying, Kimberly Ho, Liesa Desisca, Shu Min Cheong Author: Joey Ong