Compare and Contrast the Mentoring Style

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A mentor is someone who shares one’s wisdom, knowledge or experience with one’s junior person so that the person could learn and grow. Mentors have many different style of training or passing on their knowledge to other people. The movie “Something the Lord Made” directed by Joseph Sargent shows a kind of mentoring style in between the two main characters Dr. Blalock and Vivan Thomas who invent a way to treat “blue babies” back in the 40s. Vivan Thomas is a brilliant black men who wishes to go to college, and to become a doctor; however, due to the Depression, he loses all his saving. Instead of going to college, Thomas finds an opportunity to work in the hospital. Dr. Blalock, Thomas’s employer, discovers Thomas’s incredible knowledge in medical, and promotes Thomas as his assistant instead of a janitor. Dr. Blalock is a mentor to Thomas. Dr. Blalock trained Thomas with only a high school certification becomes a medical scientific lab technician. Although Dr. Blalock’s mentoring style of Vivan Thomas is similar from my high school speech team coach Mrs. Kuznicki mentoring style of me, they both speak out their criticism of other without consider other’s feeling, and also acknowledge mentees for what they have done, but Mrs. Kuznicki treats me with more patient, less selfishness and encouragement than Dr. Blalock treats Thomas. Dr. Blalock speaks out what ever he has on his mind without a second thought. In the beginning of the movie, Thomas operates an experiment on a dog. He sets up all the tools needed except a smoke drum, which Dr. Blalock uses to record every medical research. Thomas does not know what a smoke drums, and no one has mentioned to him about this equipment. Dr. Blalock is furious, and he yells at Thomas fiercely.... ... middle of paper ... ...t her profession as a speech team coach. Unlike Dr. Blalock not accepting Thomas excusing of not knowing the smoke drum and fires Thomas, Mrs. Kuznicki taught me what I need to practice on. In conclusion, Dr. Blalock and Mrs. Kuznicki have similar and different mentoring style. Each style of guidance can influence the mentees. Dr. Blalock and Mrs. Kuznicki both criticize people with strong words when facing a mistake made by other people, they will acknowledge and compliment on the success that other people made. However, Dr. Blalock has short temper and do think mistake is a good way to learn. He almost sends Thomas away because of an incautious mistake Thomas made during a lab research. Different from Dr. Blalock’s impatient behavior, Mrs. Kuznicki think that mistake is a good way to learn. She taught me many things after I made a mistake during speech practices.

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