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Community Mentorship Program Winter 2017 Signups Now Open

Community Mentorship Program Winter 2017 Signups Now Open

by Okorin

Have you ever opened up the editor and just looked at everything it offers in confusion? Do you have no idea where to even begin beatmapping? Worry no further, the Community Mentorship Program might be the place for you!

Since its inception in July of 2016, the program has gone through five cycles where experienced mappers teach aspiring new mappers everything there is to know about beatmapping, from the fundamentals of handling the editor to abstract and complex concepts of beatmap design, such as structure, flow, and many more!

For the upcoming winter cycle we are scouting mentors and mentees for the game modes osu!, osu!catch and osu!taiko!

This iteration of the program will be hosting three out of the four gamemodes of osu! - if you're interested here's a short timeline on this:

Mentor signups are open from 08.10.2017 until the 15.10.2017.
Mentee signups will open on the 22.10.2017 and close on the 01.11.2017.
The 2017 Winter cycle will start on the 05.11.2017 and end on the 28.01.2018.

During this time, the internal organization team will host various events on the server, such as assorted types of mapping contests, mapping discussions (we also publish them on the forums as guides), or even just things like multiplayer lobbies with integrated feedback sessions!

If any of the above sparked your interest, head over to the forum announcement and rule thread to read program's rules and apply!

We're looking forward to seeing a brand new set of mentors and mentees figuring out how to map!

—Okorin

Comments52

Uh! Time for the 4th round of being sad because I don't get picked!
Yahooo! (Answers.)

7 years ago

RIP osu mania Mapper

7 years ago

I'll be mentoring again this round, but I'm really hoping to find someone who is active in the mapping/modding community, and someone who shares my mapping philosophy. Not looking for someone who only wants to create masterpieces. I want someone who can produce both amazing maps, and ordinary maps. If the song doesn't inspire a unique mapping theme or concept, it is perfectly alright to map typical patterns and aesthetics. Sometimes, you just want to share a good song with the community. Mappers often forget that a majority of casual players enjoy the map because of the song, not because of how the map is constructed. Sure, other mappers and top players might praise maps for their creativity and ingenuity but that doesn't mean you only have to map with them in mind.

I guess i'm also looking for a mentee with a thick enough skin that they can choose for themselves how they want to respond to mapping criticism, and a mentee who will become an integral part in shaping mapping in the future. I wonder if i'll be able to find one, or produce one.

7 years ago

faygo Monstrata

To ensure activity, the mentee must in addition to having ranked at least three ranked maps, while also being active in the mapping community with a minimum of 8 pending maps as proof of their commitment in osu mapping.

To demonstrate the mentee's commitment in the community mentorship program, the mentee must also be either a student of the ages 14-18 and be in high school and thus have very few commitments in life, be unemployed, be a high school, college, or university drop-out, or be retired. The mentee may not have a girlfriend or boyfriend, a wife or husband, a job, or any other form of life commitment that may hinder his commitment in the osu! community mentorship program in a timely and efficient manner.

Lastly, please provide at least three hand-written reference letters from other mappers whom you believe will be able to attest to your ability and commitment as a mapper. The mappers to whom are writing your reference letters must firstly have good penmanship as Mr. Monstrata often has trouble reading poor handwriting. Secondly, these mappers must have more ranked maps than the host. At least one of these references must be a BN, and at least one of these references must be peppy.

Additionally, you must provide a fourth reference letter from someone outside of osu who can attest to your mapping ability and commitment, such as your parents. This reference letter must also be hand written, signed, approved by the minister of foreign affairs in your local country or establishment, and hand-delivered to Mr. Monstrata's address. In order to prove that the letter has been hand-delivered, the writer of the reference letter mus wear a go-pro camera on their head from the moment they begin writing the letter, to the moment they have flown across the country to hand-deliver the letter to Mr. Monstrata's doorstep.

7 years ago

EightBitLoxs Monstrata

[insert "haHAA Monstrata Maps haHAA triangles haHAA overweight haHAA peepee haHAA I'm 12 btw" here]

7 years ago

Hey prospective mentees! I'm the Mentorship Program's biggest failure, here to give you a few cheat codes for your application!
1) Who you're applying to, and why
2) Why you're applying
3) How you're applying

Let's talk first about who you're applying to. A lot of people are going to pick a really popular mentor and then find the most unknown, boring degenerate in the entire program and add their name on there too, because they're a safer bet and more likely to pick them. The sharp applicants have already realized that this is a terrible idea.
No matter what, it's a poor idea to go into the program looking for a mentor based solely on name recognition. "Oh, it's [insert mapper with 63 ranked mapsets]! I really want to be his mentee because then I can be popular too!" Spend a good amount of time looking at the mentors, seeing what you should expect from them, and what they're looking to accomplish over the span of 3 months. If anyone catches your interest, head over to their profile. Check out their maps and their mods, see if you think you could learn with them. When asked why you're applying to a mentor, don't just do so for song choice or for the name recognition. Apply to a mentor because you think that they're the best fit for you, and tell them exactly that (and why). This is the best way to get a mentor's attention: applying because they're the only one you already know, and because you just want to "get better at mapping" makes your application millions of times weaker.

Moving on, why are you applying? We all know the very base of that. You want to get better at mapping/modding/etc. and get more involved in the community. That's true of everyone trying to get in, and just saying that will lead to a lackluster application that will be easily overlooked. What do you want to know specifically? Do you want to learn to analyze maps? Do you want to start exploring advanced concepts? Do you want to work on your execution? Are you still just trying to tie down your basic rhythm? If you don't know where your own challenges lie, it may take a mentor days or even weeks of precious time just trying to nail down what exactly they need to teach you.

Finally, the biggest step in all of this is communication. If you do get into the program, you're expected to be going the extra mile to learn, and when you aren't putting in effort, it shows. A half-assed application will be paid no mind, and complaining about not getting in while doing nothing to change your circumstances is another good way for nothing to happen. Whether you spam F5 as hard as you can to get the first application in or you apply a week after signups open, you have the exact same chance. We have a waiting period, during which mentors cannot see their applicants, for this exact reason. So calm your down, take your time, and make an application that catches eyes.

I want to see you guys make this decision as hard as possible. Good luck!

7 years ago

R3m Mun

Does that mean selecting the "I don't mind who my mentor is" automatically gives you a lower chance of getting picked? Since you are not really getting any attention of a specific mapper choosing this option, it feels like you are already in a disadvantage compared to others.

7 years ago

Mun R3m

This is a bit of a weird one. That option will give you less specific attention from any one mentor, but attention from a larger number of them. Though you're putting yourself into a group larger than every specific mentor's pool of applicants combined, you also get consideration from a far greater number of people. I can't tell you mathematically which is better - I have no idea.

7 years ago

If that's what it takes to actually being accepted into this program, what's the point? There should be no reason to come up with some complex ass short paragraph/essay on "why you should pick me as a mentee".

7 years ago

Mun Ritzeh

I never said come up with a paragraph, just put effort and thought into it. If you can't be bothered to care about applying enough to differentiate yourself by taking maybe half an hour to read and fill in the questions with meaningful (not necessarily lengthy) responses, then that doesn't mean you will absolutely be refused. It just means that you're throwing yourself into a pool of literally hundreds of applicants that all look the same.
If you just hastily put together some terse application, you are depending on 2 things.
1) There will not be dozens of other people who put the time and effort into writing a better application than you.
2) You will, for some reason, be noticed and considered more highly than others will, despite your application looking exactly the same as theirs.

This isn't required, it's just an easier way to make yourself look good on your application than being a top player or community manager. Don't take it as a standard, just a suggestion!

7 years ago

Nao Tomori Ritzeh

There should, because they want to avoid people getting in then just going inactive while other people that would actually stay committed to mapping and try to improve are denied because there are no slots :)

7 years ago

This shit looks like the fuckin YouTube comments section lmao

7 years ago

:D

7 years ago

There are many tutorials about mapping in YouTube but still, there are plebs who dont know how to make maps.

7 years ago

So... Is not mentorship a reason why mapping is too generic nowadays?

7 years ago

Celektus ErunamoJAZZ

No not really. The program isn't that old at all, has tons of different influences and overall no mentee has to literally end up mapping like his mentor. I'd even say people just naturally learn all the same ideas by not being taught any outlandish ones

7 years ago

Damn, i really hope i get a chance taking part in this amazing mentorship program as a mentee!

7 years ago

wanted to join this but lets wait till a level is done...

7 years ago

so what's the difference between mentor and mentee?

7 years ago

Yuii- Professor Gila

The mentee is the one getting taught, while the mentor is the one degenerate talking to the mentee

7 years ago

ProfessionalBox Yuii-

you forgot to mention that the mentee is also a degenerate once he joins the mentorship server which factoryline produces degenerates

7 years ago

i hope any mentor has the same schedule as mine

7 years ago

Vulkin AncuL

tfw you dont have a schedule

7 years ago

ProfessionalBox

I hope I get picked this time ;w;

7 years ago

tatatat ProfessionalBox

Me too c:

7 years ago

Anosan ProfessionalBox

Srsly, you are the best mapper what i ever see, at my dreams you mod my bullshit :D

7 years ago

Seijiro Anosan

assuming map skill = mod skill in 2017, wo

7 years ago

Okoayu ProfessionalBox

to be fair you just didnt sign up last time

7 years ago

ProfessionalBox Okoayu

I was too scared ;w;

7 years ago

winber1 ProfessionalBox

fuk you shit mapper, go back to mapping easy diffs

7 years ago

There's going to be plenty of competition when applying as a mentee, so be sure to write a convincing application to increase your chances of getting in!

7 years ago

Seijiro J1NX1337

more than convincing, it's enough to make something that it is not "I want to improve my mapping" since you're clearly applying because of that, duh.

7 years ago

Attempt 4, let's go baby! jk, some people need it more than me, anyways. Still gonna try, try again.

7 years ago

Boy, I sure wish I was a mentee.

7 years ago

Same

7 years ago

Same

7 years ago

How to map:
1. Grab an editor
2. Stack a few circles
3. ???
4. Profit

7 years ago

Signing up so I can't get chosen this cycle again!!!

7 years ago

/

Signing up so I can't get chosen this cycle again!!!

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