"I am a 23-year-old final year psychology student at Bangor. I come from Stafford and started off at Staffordshire University, but left after one semester and went to Stafford College to retrain on a foundation degree course so I could come here.

I found the peer guides really good during my own first week here and so determined to pay the favour back to new students.

This year, I was responsible for organising the departmental peer guides and events at the School of Psychology, one of the uni's biggest departments with over 300 new students - so the whole week went by in a bit of a blur! As a peer guide I also had a good handful of students to look after.

Apart from organising some fun events - karaoke, a guided tour of Bangor, that sort of thing, I just made sure that no new student was allowed to sit on their own. I took every opportunity to get people to come out and socialise, and to talk to each other.

I kept an eye out for my own freshers - making sure that they all knew where to find me - and I still see them now. We go out or stop for a chat - that's one of the nice things about Bangor, you see people you know all the time.

I've also become known as a 'helpful guy' and have other people coming to me for advice, a chat, a question. The thing is to remember that no question is unimportant no matter how bizarre it may seem, and that really you have to be there for as long as you're needed.

I have dealt with difficult situations and have been able to advise students where to get further advice or assistance. I find the majority of students just need access to someone who knows the ropes. They want to ask about my own experience; how did you... what are you doing your project on, what's such and such module like, why did you choose Bangor, and so on.

The whole peer guide scheme is vital for new students to settle in well. It's also valuable to us peer guide volunteers as it gives us an opportunity to develop our own logical and practical problem-solving skills, as well as helping us gain leadership skills.

I loved my time as a peer guide and I'd encourage other students to volunteer. We receive training so we know what is appropriate and know where to point someone when they need help and guidance (regardless of either how menial or bizarre the question might be)."