Summary of Mentorship Experience

My two mentees were Irene Guggenheim-Triana and McKenzy Richie. Irene is a Music Education major from Brookville, Maryland. She ended up at Ohio State due to having a very influential flute professor here that helped make her decision. Kenzy is an Early Childhood Education major from Mason, Ohio. She chose to come to Ohio State because of the great program we have in store here and how well the university offered her off of her tuition.

 

It seemed like Kenzy, Irene, and I had a lot in common. We all were interested in education, but in our own unique ways. Education is something that we found to be an important part of our lives and something that we wanted to be able to share with others. It takes a lot of patience to be in the education field, but we think it is something that we are capable of doing with passion. One obvious difference that I share with my mentees is gender, which can affect the way that we perceive the world. They taught me that being a man is an identity that I can use to help other people solely based on the roles that society plays on all of us.

 

I felt like I have witnessed such a huge transformation between both Irene and Kenzy. I can remember when I first met them and noticed how shy they were and hesitant to share their lives with me. After the mentorship program, I can safely say that we formed friendships over this time. We had a lot of fun exploring Columbus and going to ACES events together. Thanks to the events that we went to, they allowed us to grow as individuals and share our growths when we felt comfortable. Having the time where it was just the two or three of us instead of being in a large group seemed to have worked better for us because there was more personal time without many distractions.

 

As a mentor, I feel that I have grown momentously from my experience in ACES. Being a mentor allowed me to put my own insecurities out into the world for the betterment of someone else. Seeing someone else struggle in the same ways that I have in the past made me want to help them as much as I could so they would not have to worry as much as I did. One thing that brought Irene, Kenzy, and I together was being a first-generation college student. Being a first-generation college student means that we are the first in our family to attend college. This put a pressure on us to want to perform to the best of our ability, but we don’t have all the resources that other people who aren’t first-generation college students might not have to worry about. Through my experience as a mentor, I became more aware of my personal identities and why they’re important to me. My identities are something that are unique to me and have attached character traits to me that I can and will use in order to help others.

 

In order to help my mentees with socializing, I made sure to do events that put us outside of our comfort zone. We had a lot of fun trying new things that we normally wouldn’t have tried. This forced us to be uncomfortable to an extent where we became okay with how weird the experiences were. There were definitely times where we just wanted to quit or leave because it would have been the easier thing to do, but we stuck by each other’s sides and pushed through the awkward parts. At the end of these experiences, we laughed about how much fun we had doing something new. Having the ability to put ourselves out there trying new things made us appreciate every step that we took along the way.

 

Overall, I really enjoyed my time mentoring Irene and Kenzy. I think that this mentorship program was beneficial to not only them, but myself included. I believe that mentorship programs allow the mentor to relive a part of their past by helping someone new discover their own path while guiding them through the tough parts of their journey. I felt good knowing that I was able to help my mentees figure out some difficulties that came up so far during their Ohio State experience. The intrinsic reward of helping someone who doesn’t have as much knowledge as you do about a certain subject is something that is better than any extrinsic reward you could receive.

G.O.A.L.S.

Global Awareness– Global awareness to me, means that you are knowledgeable about different cultures around the world. This means you don’t assume that everyone lives the same and is treated the same way as you. Even in the United States, we don’t even have equal treatment, so it would be hard to assume that everyone is treated like how Americans are treated. One thing I would like to do to become more globally aware is study abroad. I feel that if I were to receive my education while overseas, I could understand the lifestyle of others while trying to gain knowledge in other areas.

Service Engagement– Service engagement is something that I feel everyone has a duty to do. As residents on this Earth, we should give back to make the world a better place for others. It would work best if everyone took up something that they enjoyed so that they could put forth their full effort when giving back to the community. For me, I enjoy working with animals and I am happy to be volunteering at the Franklin County Dog Shelter, where I walk the dogs to make sure they get enough exercise. It doesn’t have to be a long time that you give back, because every little bit helps someone in need.