An Example of Successful Mentoring
An Example of Successful Mentoring
Many students come to Empire State College with apprehension and sometimes even fear. They have not had good experiences in the past with educational institutions, whether it was elementary school, high school, or a previous college. I believe that my job is to make the students comfortable with the college and excited about learning. My ultimate goal is to create lifelong learners, who are comfortable with learning and are also able to be self-directed in their learning.
Here is a short example of a student who I believe is an excellent illustration
Jane was nearing the end of her bachelor’s program with Empire State College. I was her primary mentor and had also completed a number of studies with her. We began to talk about her next enrollment and she said that she had a few ideas. The next hour was filled with the student explaining to me what studies she wanted to enroll in, showing me a few books she had found that she would like to use and why, and a newspaper clipping of a community lecture series at the library that was planned in the next few months (explaining to me how it related to the study). She finished with ideas as to how she could be evaluated that would be appropriate for her learning style. I sat there and felt that I had done my job.