We had the pleasure of meeting up with B!G Mentor, Andreas Heil in the company’s plush new headquarters in Swords. Andreas is the head of design at Sonica Fitout. Sonica is an award-winning commercial fit-out company who specialise in design and fit-outs for the workplace, retail, tourism & leisure, pharma and tech sectors.
Why do you think creative skills are important at second level?
Creative energy and skills are important at any level. Knowledge is on Wikipaedia at our fingertips but creativity is like a muscle that you need to train so I am a firm believer in training creativity collaboration.
What is Mentoring?
I think it is a role that makes the best out of the suggestions that come my way as a Mentor rather than dictating a path.
Can you take us through the process of The B!G Idea Mentoring?
The idea was that all those students can tap into a big resource nationwide, tap into people who are a bit older than them, tap into people who come across in their daily life in channelling creative ideas, directing them, steering them, patting them on the back. I think that’s the whole idea of giving a cohort of students this amazing, additional resource.
What was your biggest take away from Mentoring?
I was genuinely blown away by the level of engagement and the higher level of thinking. I have a 6-year old who is very inquisitive, I am used to teaching at third level so for me this was interesting to tap into the age group of Transition Years and it was quite rewarding because I felt that their approach was a bit more mature than my 6-year old and was definitely more uninhibited than the 20-year old so I think it’s a great age to just let them have a go at something.
Did you enjoy the Mentoring process and did you feel supported through it?
As I said it reminded me a bit of my old teaching days at third level which I am partially missing. I just enjoy hearing ideas, bouncing ideas back and I think the set up of the whole scheme was very supportive for the Mentors aswell.
Would you recommend Mentoring to others?
A simple yes if you feel you have something to give to that generation, absolutely.
