I have had some amazing mentors in my life.
When I was in my freshmen year in college I met a generous professor who could see my potential even when I could not. This professor nudged me into better performance by demanding more and not taking my laziness as an answer. I always appreciated this and took more classes from him than anyone else. Over the years he became a friend and confidant. He helped me think about my graduate career and shared his stories with me. He was a kind and wonderful man and I lost him two years ago.
My second mentor was more formal as he was the head of my graduate program in history. He was nurturing - which I needed at that time - and he understood that I wanted to ramp up to the level of work he required ASAP. I had been out of school for four years and had no real experience writing at the level required for the history program so I jumped in head-first and did it. It was nice to have some extra grading notes to know what exactly I was doing wrong and then immediately correct it to get it right. After the first semester, I was working very hard and it was paying off. This mentor became a friend throughout the program and I got to know his family as well. We communicate semi-regularly and visit when possible - I could not have succeeded without his trust and assurance that I could do the work. Sometimes you need someone who believes in you more than you believe in yourself.
My third mentor was an odd one. She declared herself my mentor and then reneged. My library science program - the professor in charge of my program who abruptly, sort of, quit everything. Not sure what was going on in her life, but it was a little dramatic. She drove me to do things I would never have done (metadata, poster presentations, etc) so I thoroughly enjoyed learning under her. I wish it could have continued.
My first professional mentor is from my first academic library job. She was instrumental in helping me gain real library experience and understood that when I was taking a reference class online, I wasn't actually learning that much about the physical reference collection at a university! She also hired me back part-time after my internship where I could do and learn even more. She still gives me good advice when I need it and I've gotten to know her family as well. She's a lovely lady.
Finally, my most recent mentor, who was my first public library boss. She is amazing. And still such a good friend, she's going to be in my wedding :) But regarding her mentoring - she had confidence in my ability to do the job and gave me advice on where to look for information, never giving me the information itself so I would learn, and then just backed away and let me go. Even though we don't still work together, she offers me advice about the profession and my career - and calms me down when the budget woes are too much. She's a very empowering personality and as a boss, that was just what I needed. Very glad I met her.
I, myself, have not formally mentored anyone, but I know that I've helped younger librarians with advice of my own. Just being a sounding board is nice sometimes. It's important to merely feel "heard." As a teen librarian I helped many a teen figure out what they were thinking as well as giving them the confidence they may be lacking at any given moment. I appreciate all that has been done to help me along when I needed it and I'm very willing to give that back.
No comments:
Post a Comment