A Memorable Mentor
A Memorable Mentor
Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.
1 John 3:18
It was an ego blow, to be honest. I was ecstatic to see my acceptance letter to the graduate program, but my heart sank a little at the words “probationary status.” I had just two classes to prove that my writing—deemed less than stellar by the committee—could survive the program.
Sure, I’d been out of the university environment for a while, and my writing skewed toward concise journalism rather than the evocative language of academia, but I was embarrassed at the idea of being “less than.”
As the semester progressed, my uncertain status weighed heavily on me. What if I really wasn’t good enough? What if my writing didn’t improve? Other than the spectacular failure of my first on-the-road driver’s license test, I had never truly failed at anything. The prospect was terrifying.
When I approached one of my professors midsemester and asked her to write a letter confirming my aptitude for the program’s committee, she graciously obliged. I was so relieved. As my probationary status lifted, so did the weight on my heart.
A few years later, when I was choosing a mentor for my capstone essay, the same professor immediately came to mind. When she agreed to help, I was once again grateful for her feedback and guidance.
Yes, she was smart and insightful, but it was her kindness that won me over—taking time to write the letter, spending all those hours with me in coffee shops and her office. That mentoring was invaluable to me because of the underlying messages I heard from her, woven throughout our time together: You matter. You’re smart. Your ideas are worthwhile. You are a good writer. You can succeed at this. I believe in you.
Those affirmations, some verbalized and others unspoken, might have rung hollow if her actions hadn’t backed them up. But her actions, and what they meant to me, resonated far beyond the time we spent together.
— Today’s Act of Kindness —
Do something that tangibly affirms your belief in someone else—maybe it’s writing a letter of recommendation, contributing to their performance review at work, or even just sending a personal note telling them they’re doing a good job.
From the book
