One of the most exciting parts of being a mentor is when you see positive changes and choices made by your mentee. It takes time, though. Sometimes I have gone months and months without seeing any positive changes, but then one day….I see it, and it’s rewarding! I would call it patient persistence. The role of a mentor changes depending on the mentee and what she is facing at the moment. Sometimes, the valuable thing that a mentor can provide is knowledge about something. In the case of being a mentor for the organization Take Stock in Children, the mentors have knowledge about a college experience. The mentees can benefit from their mentor’s advice and experience and have someone they know and trust guide them through the college decision, application process, career focus, and other decisions that come with college planning. That shared experience can be made smoother and will likely be more successful with guidance and advice from the mentor. Another plus is that usually the advice of the one-on-one mentor session comes at no cost to the mentee. This is a valuable, virtually free experience that could completely change one’s life. Imagine being able to mentor a high school student in a way that they go onto college, which is a first for their whole family. That changes the opportunities for that student forever, which in turn may change the family and provide a more financially secure future for that student. Now THAT is an example of how being a mentor can provide symbiotic benefits.
The Symbiotic Benefits of Mentorship
