The Power of a Mentor

Ultimately it is fair to say that children are born into this world a blank slate. Who they grow up to be can be shaped by positive and even negative influences. Luckily there are mentors who can play a positive role in children’s lives. In class we discussed what we thought a mentor was and we came to the conclusion that they are role modes, someone you can talk to, knowledgeable people, and someone you can trust. What I like about mentors is that you can find a mentor anywhere. Mentors can be found at home, at school, at church, or even through extracurricular activities. In my opinion knowing that children can look into so many aspects of their life to find a positive influence is a great thing. In the class reading “The Intimacy of Mentoring” it states, “Whatever innate drive and intelligence I possess might have been channeled in entirely different directions, or maybe even no direction, if my mom and stepdad, grandfather, sister, friends, teachers from K through Ph.D., classmates, partners, and occasionally complete strangers had not recognized a spark of creativity and promise in me and offered their hearts, hands, minds, and wallets” (Casper, 1). I believe this shows how simply a person can help someone bring their best qualities forth to achieve great things.

I found an article about a young woman’s story that did just that. The young woman by the name of Summer appears to have had a not so easy life causing her to grow up a little faster then most people her age. With all of the negative influences in her life she was able to find a positive one through a mentor. The article talks about Summers mentor, who was given to her by a program which pairs children of incarcerated parents with mentors, and reveals, “Gaul practices “strength-based mentoring” this approach focuses on the positive aspects of young people’s lives, and asks mentors to nurture youths inner strengths and gifts” (Find Youth Info, 1). With this mentor Summer was able to focus on things that she was good at, and with the tools her mentor gave her she was able to grow in a positive aspect. I also liked that the article pointed out that since Gaul came into Summer’s life she has been able to stay off of a troublesome path. This just shows what a great tool a mentor can be to a young persons life.

http://www.findyouthinfo.gov/feature-article/match-made-pittsburgh-cultivates-young-girls-strengths