One of the buzzword phrases floating around any college campus besides “finding your passion”, “get involved”, and “free food” is “find a mentor”. The moment I arrived to Boston College I’ve heard about the power of mentoring and how it is one of the many keys to success non stop even to this day being echoed throughout campus. BC tries to give students mentors the first day they arrive whether that’s through academic advisers assigned for their major, resident assistants, or student leaders in certain programs or clubs. I’ve been assigned more than a couple advisers in and outside of Boston College through certain programs, but only one so far is someone I truly call one of my mentors. My English professor in a summer program at Boston College that I completed two weeks before freshman year began has been one of my supportive mentors on campus. Back when I was an English major freshman year, my professor was also my academic adviser and my assigned mentor in a program on campus that pairs students to faculty members.
The most important part of having a mentor is that they seek nothing but the best within their mentees and want to help them succeed in the same way someone helped them into the positions they’re in now. Throughout my academic challenges and internal struggle over discovering what I liked freshman year, my mentor had been in my corner there to either give advice or listen to me vent about what was going on. Even after I switched out of English, my academic advisor has continued being my mentor to this day because she knows me better than any other faculty member on campus and continues to support me in whatever academic, social, or professional endeavors I pursue. In some ways, the reason that I was able to survive freshman year and have so far excelled afterwards has been how my mentor has inspired me to consider alternate career paths and programs.
Her care and support inspired me to do my best to mentor people underclassmen as a resident assistant where I don’t just try to foster community on my floor but be a support for my residents in the whirlwind time called freshman year. Trying my hands at mentoring students made me realize how much I like working with people and has fostered very close bonds with the freshman guys I watch over and other residents within our building. Being a resident assistant/mentor has been the highlight of my college experience and has gotten me at least considering a career in higher education. If I didn’t take the initiative such a close relationship with my academic adviser freshman year who turned out to now be one of my biggest mentors, I’d honestly say that my college experience would not be equally as meaningful as it has been the past three years.