by David Neils
Mentors can dramatically increase the chances of a student pursuing his or her interests successfully by guiding the student in three primary areas, each area including a driving question (students can ask themselves these questions as well).
1. Informed: What do I need to know?
2. Connected: Who do I need to know?
3. Engaged: How do I make a difference now?
These aren’t just one-time questions, but for use in a continual process of repeatedly asking these throughout the course of a project, a research paper, or the development of an academic path aligning to a potential career. Asking these questions before, during and after a project will help a student make better decisions.
A student can become informed about the connection between his interests and career opportunities. He is also becoming connected with real professionals who will be eager to provide additional support in the future. His mentor will help him take an additional step to become engaged and make a difference in a chosen field or activity. This can help to shed a new, bright light on strength and weaknesses of a student’s decision to pursue his chosen area, or any new area in the future.
David Neils is the Founder and Director of the International Telementor Program. Write to: firstname.lastname@example.org