Congratulations to our 2024 Mentorship Programme students 

Today we had a diploma ceremony for this year’s students on the Mentorship Programme.

Our mentor students gathered for dinner and received their diplomas, as a token of a well-executed year of challenges and lessons learned, together with our mentors.

The Mentorship Programme is run by the SSHL Alumni Association. Each school year, a group of students at SSHL get the opportunity to participate in the programme, which is highly appreciated. During the year, students and mentors have gathered for lectures, workshops and study visits, as well as individual meetings.

The mentors consist of a group of alumni, “Fördettingar”. Each mentor is matched with a student to follow during the academic year. In the ten years that the Mentorship Programme has been run, over 100 students have been coached and guided by mentors who were all former students at SS, SHL and SSHL in Sigtuna.

Please meet some of this year’s mentors and students!

Johan Berch: “I have found my guide”

Johan – student in IB DP.

One of the students on this year’s programme is Johan Berch, who is 18 years old, graduating from the IB Diploma Program this spring. Johan left his school in France for SSHL and Sigtuna when he was about to start 7th grade. Johan has felt at home right from the start, as a boarding student at house Herrgården first, and now Backa.

How did you come to join the Mentorship Programme?

– Some older schoolmates who were part of the Mentorship Programme told me about their positive experiences and thought I should apply. I was hoping to make good contact with someone who could support me, someone completely outside family and friends. Someone who might be able to guide me in the future as well.

And Johan has found his guide. He says that his mentor makes him come up with thoughts and ideas about what drives him as a person:

– It becomes a completely different thing when you talk to someone who is not close to you. In a way like a friend, a support. He always asks why, why, why, so that I can move on with my inner process.

What have you appreciated the most?

– The study visit at Swedish Television was super. I also liked the workshop about body language. I notice that I see more clearly how others act now. But the nicest and most rewarding thing has been the relationship with my own mentor.

What have you learned during the programme?

– I have learned to look into myself much more. To think about what I do in a different way. To reflect. Which is what the IB teaches as well, academically, but now I do it much more in my own day-to-day life, which gives a very different outlook on life.

Johan’s mentor – Raymond Ahlgren, Performance Coach:

Raymond Ahlgren, mentor 2024.

How come you decided to participate as a mentor?

– The basis of basically all well-being is to give! It is simply about being of service. So when I was asked if I wanted to be a mentor, the answer was a ‘no brainer’! Also, I love SSHL. My seven years at the school were among the happiest of my life – I take everything I can do for the school as a matter of course.

Raymond says that since he himself is a self-employed entrepreneur, Johan and he have talked mainly from the personal and professional perspective – leadership and personal development:

– Our conversations have been about our driving forces and our “Why” – i.e. why we do different things and what drives us. The Mentorship Programme is a very good initiative. I wish we had something similar in my days as a student!

Margareta Backlund: “I’ve learnt to ask for help and to prioritize”

Margareta – student in IB DP.

Margareta Backlund is 18 years old and is graduating from the IB Diploma Programme this spring. She is Swedish, but born and raised in California and enrolled at SSHL and IB MYP5 as a boarding student at Skoga.

Margareta thought that the Mentoring Program was a good source for exploring what she wants to do after graduation.

Who is your mentor?

– Åsa Lundberg is my mentor. She is retired today, but has worked in different professions and lived in many different countries. We usually meet a few times a month to have coffee and talk about how things are going right now at school and socially, and about the future.

What have you learned during the programme?

– Åsa has helped me prioritize. I have so much I want to do, Åsa has taught me that you have to be able to ask for help and to prioritize. I appreciate that I have had a person to talk to very much, somebody who has experience from different professions and life experience. An adult who is not my parents or teachers. She has helped me zoom out from everything that is happening and deal with the social side of life.

How do you look at the future?

– The Mentorship Programme has made me realize that there are so many things to do, and everything is not just black or white. You don’t have to figure everything out right here and now, find a job and think that life is settled. You can start with something you like and then develop from there. There is time to develop.

– I recommend the Mentorship Programme! It is important, and suitable for everyone. Even if you think you already know what you want to do.

Lennart Linnér – mentor:

Lennart Linnér, mentor 2024.

Lennart Linnér is a former student at SHL with a long career as ambassador and diplomat, and as an employee at the Swedish Foreign Ministry for over 40 years. Lennart is one of this year’s mentors and this year he supervises his third student in the Mentorship Programme.

– I really think mentoring is so important. It’s fun to brainstorm ideas and try to give advice, and talk about everything possible, for example what it’s like to work and live abroad. All the various study visits are also great fun. I tried to arrange a visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the students this year, but due to time constraints, such a visit can only take place in the autumn.

Why did you become a mentor?

– It’s fun to give back a little, I had a great time at SHL, as the school was then called, and it’s very nice to be able to share your experiences after an exciting time at the Swedish Foreign Ministry. Why not offer support when I can!

Helena Alvin – mentor:

Helena Alvin, mentor 2024.

Helena Alvin is also a Sigtuna alumna, and mentor for the second year. She has worked for Sweden and the EU Commission in Brussels for over 16 years and is today Deputy Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Stockholm.

– I recommend anyone who feels they have something to share to volunteer, because it is very rewarding. It is not only about your academic and work background, but also about life experience.

Helena feels that she has been able to share ideas and thoughts about the future with her mentee, and advise on different routes into internships and jobs if you want to work with international questions.

– It’s fun to talk to the students. They need more adults to talk to, they don’t always listen that much to their parents.

Monica Holmvik Persdotter, Programme Manager:

– The Mentorship Programme is an opportunity for former students to share their experiences, and an opportunity for students to talk to someone who shares the experience of being a Sigtuna student. It is a valuable exchange for both mentors and students to share and learn from each other.

Monica Holmvik Persdotter, together with the students on the Mentorship Programme. 

Jesper Norberg, Programme Manager:

Jesper Norberg.

Why do you find the Mentorship Programme important?

– Partly it is because it is a link between today’s students at the school and former students. Tradition and history have always been important to the school. But the most important thing is that it is a support for the students at SSHL.

Jesper says that he himself has two sons of the same age and knows how many thoughts, and in some cases worries, they have about the future.

– I believe that getting a chance to talk to someone with the same school background, who is not your parent, can be an important support. And a good preparation for adulthood.

Your work in the programme is voluntary. What drives you to do this?

– I was a boarding student at SSHL for 4 years. Even though it has been 35 years since I graduated, I still have very strong feelings for the school. SSHL has definitely helped form the person I am today.

When Jesper was asked if he wanted to work in the programme, he didn’t hesitate for a second.

– I wanted to give something back to the school as SSHL has had such a strong influence on my life. Plus, it’s a lot of fun!

A big thank you to this year’s mentors and to the Sigtuna Alumni Association. And congratulations again to our students!

More than a fantastic education – about the programme