A Timely Mentor

Have you ever had a conversation with somebody that seemed curiously timely? I just had one of these conversations when I spoke with my mentor, Rachael Mann. Despite it being only February, this year has presented itself with several challenges that left me questioning why I am in education. As we began talking, I quickly realized that her fresh perspective was something I needed to hear. Throughout our conversation, I was reminded of two simple truths about working in education.

Try to say yes to new experiences. Anything you try can lead to something new. New opportunities will come your way and it’s easy to just say no, but where is the fun in that? You never know where an opportunity will lead you and who you will meet. These experiences can transform your career by allowing you to expand your network or learn a new skill. Rachael and I talked about how neither of us were active in ACTE in our first years of teaching, but each recently decided to become more active. It was exciting to her that through her involvement, Rachael found herself growing as an education leader, and has begun making an impact on her local community. We encourage our students to say yes, so we must heed our own advice and be open to trying something new as well.

Remember what you’re in it for. We all went into education to make a difference in the lives of students. It is easy to get wrapped up in the day-to-day activities of teaching, but we need to remember the students we have made an impact on. It was refreshing to exchange stories with Rachael of students we have positively influenced and reflect on why we do what we do. I was particularly impressed with her anecdote of reaching a student already written off by other educators, and hearing that this student has now grown into a successful professional and advocate for CTE. Remember that the students you see in front of you are tomorrow’s success stories.

At the end of our conversation, Rachael asked me a question I was not fully prepared to answer. “What do you want out of this mentorship?” My reply was a jumbled mess of incomplete sentences, with an apology in the middle for sounding more negative than I intended. But, by the end, I realized that I wanted someone to talk about the simple truths of our profession, and someone able to give me honest feedback about new ideas. Rachael agreed, and I look forward to working with a newfound colleague and mentor.

 

Robert Van Dyke
Region V
Colorado Community College
Denver, CO