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When I was in middle school and through high school a mentor I had was an older man in my community. From this relationship I had someone who was concerned with what I was doing in school, and within the community. I also got the opportunity to learn different skills from him such as woodworking, landscaping, and the chance to further develop my communication skills. These experiences may seem like nothing, but from them I have learned that taking my time helps me produce my best work possible. At the same time I learned many life lessons from my experiences with him as well as his experiences that he shared with me. Still to this day I'm in contact with my mentor, and I'm very thankful for all of the experiences and life lessons that I learned
from him.
Much like Mike, I have had some amazing academic mentors that were not afraid to get down in the trenches with me and ask what I was trying to say. I had Ms. Lewis my freshmen year of high school, she would sit down with me and rip apart my paper and rework it as necessary. During my senior year of high school, I had the privilege of taking a U.W. English class that was a seminar format where the instructor would frequently conference with us, and he gave me the tools to continue my education. However, something we all need to remember, especially at PLU, is to not be afraid to be a mentor to someone else. In life, we are all teachers. We tell one another our stories, and by doing that we are teaching them what it is like to look at the world through our lens.
Through serving in various leadership roles, I reignited my passion for mentoring and fostering lasting relationships. Particularly as a science teaching assistant, I became a leader and counselor by teaching classes, utilizing metaphors to explain complex science, and encouraging others by relating to their struggles. Also, I discovered the importance of truly being in the moment by being receptive to others’ unvoiced problems. Most notably, this position taught me that we can all learn something new from each other as I experienced before with Abby. All these benefits incited me to create a mentorship program on my college campus that pairs accomplished seniors with younger students. As someone who entered college feeling unprepared, I felt it beneficial for others in similar situations to have a role model whom they can trust for encouragement and
In Managing Social Service Staff for Excellence, Nancy Summers (2010) provides a list of “The Differences between a Professional Relationship and a Friendship” (p. 192). The very first item on the list states that a professional relationship puts the client first; whereas in a friendship, “each friend gives the support to the other” (p. 192). Hepworth, et al. (2013) also supports this by stating that professional boundaries intend to make “the client’s interest the primary focus” (p. 71). From my perspective, this is the main difference between a professional and personal relationship. As my field instructor has pointed out, in a professional relationship, it’s about the client’s needs. As social workers, we should not try to get anything
I have been a mentee in three mentoring programs and I understand from firsthand experience how important mentors have been in my life. Each relationship was very different; one of my mentors was about two generations older than me, while my two more recent mentors have been only a few years older than me.
To start we need to find an expert on mentor archetypes. From the article Archetypes in the Hero's Journey written by Melinda Goodin, who is an expert in the archetypal field, states “The mentor serves a number of purposes: a source of wisdom, gift giver, and conscience...Other Mentors can act to motivate the protagonist and help overcome fear” (Goodin, 2004) So from using this expert research we can see that a mentor is a teacher or wise person that helps out the main character in a story. The mentor gives the hero knowledge of sorts so the hero can complete their task. The information I found intrigued me so I kept doing a little bit more research and I came across another article called The Mentor Archetype, written by Nutschell, which states “They also invent items which the hero might need along their journey or they bestow the hero with a particular gift to aid them in their quest” (Nutschell, 2011). This quote from Nutshell further proves that a mentor archetype is a person that helps the hero of the story out by giving the hero some sort of item to complete their task at hand. Mentors by definition seem to be very important to the development of the plot in a story, so this thought led me to another question; how does a mentor actually impact the
I had learned many things from others that helped me to grow mentally and physically and allowed me to be successful. For example, a few years later there was a time when I did not know how to drive. My boyfriend came along to help through this situation I was facing. He thought all about the signs of the road, what it meant and so on. I learned a lot from him. Since that time, I am now able to drive around anywhere I want and most importantly I can help my family with grocery shopping and sometimes when I don’t have school, I offer my siblings a ride to school. This was also an opportunity for me to find a great job that I could now attend to early. Compare to before it was difficult for me to make it on time because of having to take the city bus. As I learned how to drive from my boyfriend I was able to grow mentally and be
In addition, for some mentors, mentoring was a burden or workload issue that often went unnoticed by others. Mentees, too, were concerned by a lack of mentor interest and training and a host of problematic mentor attributes and behaviors (e.g. critical or defensive behaviors). Professional or personal incompatibility or incompatibility based on other factors such as race or gender was also seen by both mentors and mentees as impediments to the success of the relationship. Organizations, too, were confronted with difficulties arising from mentoring programs. Lack of commitment from the organization, lack of partnership and funding problems were reported in some studies, while in others, cultural or gender biases meant that some mentees’ experiences were not
I often tell the story of how my mentors changed my life. For a long time, I was unsure about the direction I wanted to take my career. It was only when I had a long conversation with one of my mentors that I realized education was the right field for me. My mentors were also instrumental in changing my mindset about school, work, and life.
Last fall, I decided to join a mentoring program because I wanted to give back to my community and share my experience with others. My goal was to educate young students about why school is important while assisting them with school related or personal problems. I was assigned to go to an elementary school every week for two hours and work with two elementary students. During those two hours, my mentees and I would talk, do homework, play games, and read. By being a mentor, I had to manage the time and organize each session by incorporating what I had learned in class.
The institution itself bears much of the responsibility in the outcome of the advisor/student relationship. Before faculty and students can engage in a productive relationship, the universities must make clear the importance of quality faculty mentoring. Faculty development and training is essential. The most direct way for institutions to improve the quality of mentoring is to reward good mentoring. Universities exist to educate and make future leaders of the graduates. The development of the students should be as important as the research dollars that come in but it is not. I have personally witnessed outstanding junior faculty mentors denied promotion because of the lack of grant support on their CV. The message
Introduction/Goals and Expectations Statement: September 5, 2017, was my first phone call my mentor who is Audrey Caldwell. In our first phone call, we introduced ourselves and then discussed what the mentor program entails. I had asked Audrey where she works and where she lives and learned that she lives in San Francisco. She had mentioned that her first job was in Texas after she graduated from the University of Arizona and she explained that she did not enjoy her job, which is why she transferred to a different job in San Francisco. I then discussed my goals in school and my future career with my mentor.
Such as business problems that you face or something you can improve on. Think of them as the teacher and you as the student, your objective is to use their time in an effective matter so they can teach you the ropes without feeling like it’s an obligation. Finding a great mentor is a very difficult task. Usually strangers never accept people they don’t know to be their mentor. Your
I’ve taught my mentor a lot of things. Some things I taught her were about technology, trends, and music. She said some of the music today that the kids listen to sounds like trash. I somewhat agreed with that. She liked some trends and she disliked some trends. One thing she doesn’t like is dying your hair a crazy color. She said it looked like a walking rainbow. I wasn’t fond of it anyways so I never did it. I’ve taught my siblings most of the things she’s taught me. One thing I thought them was how things were back in the olden days. I’ve also taught them to learn responsibility while you’re young, and you have to work hard for the things you want. I thought these tips were important to know so I taught them
Many young people just need to be motivated and given a fair chance at success. Young people need mentors to help them find their way and to help them stay focused. Mentors play an intricate roll in your lives and are sort of liaisons between your parents or guardians and your educators.
For example, my best friend occasionally went to the boys and girl club after school. She explained to me, the staff was strict on their homework and the club also had study sessions. She also had a mentor to teach her the importance of a resume, cover letter and to become an intelligent woman. Lastly, she had a counselor from tidewater that talked with her about issues that could hold her back from succeeding. She had helped not only to keep her studies on track, but she had helped to keep emotions from affecting her life.