Tough Love

I guess I should start out with this post that I sent Yosayra a few weeks ago: http://blogs.hbr.org/glickman/2012/03/get-ahead-with-a-mentor-who-sc.html

It's basically about how it's good to have a mentor who scares and challenges you. Yep, that's my mentor. hahahaha

For the capstone course in my minor, I have to take an internship. Luckily, I get to do my internship directed towards something I want to do career-wise. I had my meeting today and I got to learn about all the possible opportunities I have for the Fall semester.

Well, I pretty much got to a point when I was frustrated today because I felt Yosayra wasn't helping me. I get nervous about big decisions like these because I don't want to do the "wrong" thing. I know there's technically no wrong thing because everything's an experience, but still. It's not the first time Yosayra's left me on my own to make decisions and it's most likely not going to be the last hahaha

I guess it kind of brings it back to that article I posted above. You need people to challenge and critique you if you really want to push yourself to grow. Now that I think of it, this whole experience has really redefined the definition of a mentor to me. One of the things Yosayra said to me earlier on this year is that one day, I'm going to be someone's mentor too. Even in Peer Leadership, I know I'm a mentor to the team. I guess my role isn't just to guide and support them, but also challenge them to help them reach their potential.

This actually brings me back to some reflection we did at the conference in Phoenix. We had to write something we wanted to change about ourselves. My improvement was that I wanted to be more confident in my abilities and I kind of think that's where my mentor's trying to get me at too. I know I can do this...I know I can make these decisions. It's just kind of weird, you know? I can't believe how quickly everything's happening.

I guess it's all for the best. A year from now, I'll be making my decision of where I'll be going to grad school... I sometimes grumble coming out of Yosayra's office, but I know that a year from now, I'll be like those American Idol singers who'll be eternally grateful for their mentor.