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Mentoring
by Frank A Iddings*
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"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." Henry Adams Frank Iddings |
When you were born, you did not even know your name. Someone had to teach it to you. We have all learned from teachers during our lives, and those of us who are still awake are still learning.For many of us, there have been special teachers who have taught us more than just basic pieces of information. These special teachers have given us experience beyond our years, desire to learn and accomplish goals previously hidden in our minds, and self confidence built upon the pushes and nudges to leave the comfort and complacency of our nests, and they have unlocked character dormant in our personalities until given an example worth following. These teachers were mentors — a wise and faithful teacher, guide, and friend. Some of these mentors were school teachers; others were relatives, friends, coworkers, supervisors, and members of a cadre of influential people, including ministers, scout masters, and writers (through the characters they described from either real life or their imaginations).
Mentors provide us with more than mere knowledge; they inspire us to be more and better than we would have been without them. They create and improve traits that lead to higher levels of success and personal satisfaction in our lives. Their examples cause us to raise our ambitions, improve behavior, and try things we thought were beyond our reach.
Be a mentor - it is truly worthwhile.
A mentor is a person who helps us achieve the most we can in our lives and encourages each of us to be all we can be. All of us need to have at least one mentor in our lives, and each of us should be a mentor. If you want a good example of a mentor, read Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom or see the made for television version with Jack Lemon as Morrie, the mentor. You have to admire the zest for life, the admirable example of living to the fullest, and the fantastic desire to share shown by Morrie (a real person and mentor for the author). Few of us have ever had such a tremendous mentor, but many of us have had several mentors that each inspired an improvement that bettered our lives significantly.
Where do you find a mentor? They are everywhere — at home, at work, at school, at church, at meetings with other professionals (like at ASNT), at sporting events, at leisure (especially reading), and elsewhere in our daily activities. Mentors can be people from all of these places. That disabled person we saw or read about trying and succeeding at something we would have thought would be beyond his or her capabilities has something to teach us. Although we are not labeled as such, many of us are disabled because we do not have a mentor that pushes or inspires us to do more with what we have. All you need are examples for the self improvement you want and then an attempt to follow that example.
Why would you want to be a mentor? Satisfaction would be my answer. The satisfaction that comes from helping someone learn, improve, and grow to be someone better than they were is one of the greatest feelings in my life. Plus, many of those I have helped have helped me and made me much better than I would have been without them. They have also become some of my best friends.
You are a mentor whether you want to be or not. You are always an example to someone sometime. So plan on it! Do it the best you can. The results will make you happier than you have ever been.
A few months ago, I got an e-mail from a student of over 20 years ago. He ran across my name while looking for some information on NDT. In our subsequent e-mail conversations, he told me that I was "the best professor he had at school." He is now an NDT professional. Not much in my life beats hearing those kinds of comments and seeing my students and friends succeed. Not that I caused the success, but I helped in some small way. Every one of these students and friends has made my life richer, fuller, and happier than it would have been without them. Be a mentor — it is truly worthwhile, and it is absolutely basic to everyone's well being.
My thanks to my family and friends (students, associates, teachers, and examples from life and literature) who have made my life so wonderful!
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