Mentors through the years
Thinking and reflecting on mentors is a nice way to start the new year - and it's an assignment to boot. :)
As you think back on your early years, do any adults stick out in your mind? Who were the adults who really made a positive difference in your life? Make a list of them below.
Mom
Dad
Uncle Joe (mom's brother)
Aunt Foster (Joe's wife)
Mr. Jeff Stewart (4th grade teacher)
Mrs. Kamp (piano teacher for many many years)
Mr. Peterson (Jr. High AZ History teacher)
Mrs. Milo (Philosophy and World History teacher in High School)
Dr. Pilot (High School Principal)
Dr. Dobrenz (Professor in the Plant Sciences dept at the University of AZ = mentor for an internship while I was in HS and then a professor of mine later in college).
Mr. Harold Jones (Photography teacher, advisor, mentor, facilitator, etc - throughout my undergraduate years)
Dr. Mike Damyanovich (manager, mentor, friend)
Mr. Bruce Cameron (former colleague, still a friend).
I think there must be more. I'm inclined to list other friends and teachers but I may be blurring the line between supportive friend/confidant and mentor. What is the difference. Does a mentor necessarily teach you something?
Why do you think they took a special interest in you? What qualities did you have that made them want to spend time with you or encourage you?
This seems like a rather vain question to answer. :) Seriously though, I'm sure Mom and Dad took a special interest in me because I was their first living child, because they love me, and all the other parental reasons. Those are the reasons they had at first. As I grew and evolved, I'd like to think that I became the sort of person who they enjoyed spending time with and in whom they saw potential not just because I was their child but because I had that potential and the desire to "live up to it." As to the others on my list, I think they must have each seen some kind of potential that spoke to their own interests and passions and they wanted to nurture that. As I contemplate this I realize that it seems obvious that a teacher would be a mentor - but I don't think that every teacher is a mentor for every student. I didn't list all my teachers because even thought they all took an interest in me, as well as their other students, only a few took a special interest that is still somehow sharp in my own memory all these years later. Also, the teachers on my list are ones that I took a special interest in as well. Even after I graduated from their respective schools, I went back many times to visit with Mr. Peterson and Mrs. Milo (I would have visited w/ Dr. Pilot too, but he'd retired). I wanted to share with them my new experiences and I wanted to know what they were up to, how the new group of students were, etc. They also took an interest in things that I didn't expect them to. On of my most vivid memories about Mrs. Kamp was when I took a Prelude by Chopin , broke all the chords apart and added my own melody line. I thought she might not like some kid (I think I was about 12 at the time) messing about with the work of a great master like Chopin but she not only praised my improvisation, she asked me to perform it at a recital. That had a much greater impact on me that I realized at the time.
What was it that made each of them a great mentor? What did these important people have in common?
As I think about each of the people on my list (including my parents and aunt and uncle who, of course, had something of a vested interest in me) I realize that each of them had/have some passion(s) of their own and a desire to share that passion. They also had/have a way of modeling their own passion while at the same time encouraging me to pursue my passion even if it doesn't match their passion exactly. Their enthusiasm for their own passion was matched by their enthusiasm for my journey toward finding my own path in life. They provided me with so many options but never told me specifically what to do with them. They nurtured me without stifling my own interests and explorations. It was/is as if they are climbing the side of a cliff with me, holding on to the rope so that I don't fall too far but not actually pulling me up the cliff (I'm doing that on my own).
What might these experiences teach you about how you want to be as a mentor? What lessons can you take away from these role models?
I'm beginning to discover that as I work with others it is better to support and suggest but not to tell. What is even more important is to find something in the other person that you can show genuine enthusiasm and excitement for and then do all you can to encourage them to pursue that but don't do it for them and don't tell them (step-by-step) how to do it. As I reflect on how I interact with my peers and then reflect on the work I did years ago with students, I am beginning to realize that I gave the students much more freedom to find their own path than I give my adult peers. I wonder why that is and I wonder if it has something to do with my own preconceived notions regarding what it means to teach as opposed to what it means to participate in a professional collaboration. I wonder also if I'm making assumptions about adults and whether or not they already know their path and don't need me to support it. Or perhaps I view them differently because we are in a peer relationship rather than one of authority and "subordinate." I need to reflect more on this.
As you think back on your early years, do any adults stick out in your mind? Who were the adults who really made a positive difference in your life? Make a list of them below.
Mom
Dad
Uncle Joe (mom's brother)
Aunt Foster (Joe's wife)
Mr. Jeff Stewart (4th grade teacher)
Mrs. Kamp (piano teacher for many many years)
Mr. Peterson (Jr. High AZ History teacher)
Mrs. Milo (Philosophy and World History teacher in High School)
Dr. Pilot (High School Principal)
Dr. Dobrenz (Professor in the Plant Sciences dept at the University of AZ = mentor for an internship while I was in HS and then a professor of mine later in college).
Mr. Harold Jones (Photography teacher, advisor, mentor, facilitator, etc - throughout my undergraduate years)
Dr. Mike Damyanovich (manager, mentor, friend)
Mr. Bruce Cameron (former colleague, still a friend).
I think there must be more. I'm inclined to list other friends and teachers but I may be blurring the line between supportive friend/confidant and mentor. What is the difference. Does a mentor necessarily teach you something?
Why do you think they took a special interest in you? What qualities did you have that made them want to spend time with you or encourage you?
This seems like a rather vain question to answer. :) Seriously though, I'm sure Mom and Dad took a special interest in me because I was their first living child, because they love me, and all the other parental reasons. Those are the reasons they had at first. As I grew and evolved, I'd like to think that I became the sort of person who they enjoyed spending time with and in whom they saw potential not just because I was their child but because I had that potential and the desire to "live up to it." As to the others on my list, I think they must have each seen some kind of potential that spoke to their own interests and passions and they wanted to nurture that. As I contemplate this I realize that it seems obvious that a teacher would be a mentor - but I don't think that every teacher is a mentor for every student. I didn't list all my teachers because even thought they all took an interest in me, as well as their other students, only a few took a special interest that is still somehow sharp in my own memory all these years later. Also, the teachers on my list are ones that I took a special interest in as well. Even after I graduated from their respective schools, I went back many times to visit with Mr. Peterson and Mrs. Milo (I would have visited w/ Dr. Pilot too, but he'd retired). I wanted to share with them my new experiences and I wanted to know what they were up to, how the new group of students were, etc. They also took an interest in things that I didn't expect them to. On of my most vivid memories about Mrs. Kamp was when I took a Prelude by Chopin , broke all the chords apart and added my own melody line. I thought she might not like some kid (I think I was about 12 at the time) messing about with the work of a great master like Chopin but she not only praised my improvisation, she asked me to perform it at a recital. That had a much greater impact on me that I realized at the time.
What was it that made each of them a great mentor? What did these important people have in common?
As I think about each of the people on my list (including my parents and aunt and uncle who, of course, had something of a vested interest in me) I realize that each of them had/have some passion(s) of their own and a desire to share that passion. They also had/have a way of modeling their own passion while at the same time encouraging me to pursue my passion even if it doesn't match their passion exactly. Their enthusiasm for their own passion was matched by their enthusiasm for my journey toward finding my own path in life. They provided me with so many options but never told me specifically what to do with them. They nurtured me without stifling my own interests and explorations. It was/is as if they are climbing the side of a cliff with me, holding on to the rope so that I don't fall too far but not actually pulling me up the cliff (I'm doing that on my own).
What might these experiences teach you about how you want to be as a mentor? What lessons can you take away from these role models?
I'm beginning to discover that as I work with others it is better to support and suggest but not to tell. What is even more important is to find something in the other person that you can show genuine enthusiasm and excitement for and then do all you can to encourage them to pursue that but don't do it for them and don't tell them (step-by-step) how to do it. As I reflect on how I interact with my peers and then reflect on the work I did years ago with students, I am beginning to realize that I gave the students much more freedom to find their own path than I give my adult peers. I wonder why that is and I wonder if it has something to do with my own preconceived notions regarding what it means to teach as opposed to what it means to participate in a professional collaboration. I wonder also if I'm making assumptions about adults and whether or not they already know their path and don't need me to support it. Or perhaps I view them differently because we are in a peer relationship rather than one of authority and "subordinate." I need to reflect more on this.
posted by susan | 6:43 PM
1 Comments:
I forgot to add Reg Barr to this list. My Government teacher in High School. He was always there for all of us, the entire class (not just the ones in his class room... the entire student body). It was a small school, but I think even in a larger school he would have been that way.
He is one of the teachers I went back to visit too. He even gave me some excellent feed back on some of my first college papers - better feedback that the TA's who were teaching the classes.
I thought about listing him and then thought that my list was getting too long. How completely silly of me to think that a list of mentors could be too long.
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