By Karla Goodhart
Balancing your work, education and social life can take a lot of dedication to perform successfully.
It’s easy to get distracted and find yourself rushing to complete assignments or finding it difficult to concentrate on your lessons. To keep yourself motivated, find a mentor who can provide you with compassionate guidance to lessen your stress levels.
Finding someone you can trust to be a mentor doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, a potential mentor may already be a large part of your life. Try to network with upperclassmen or even professors for their advice.
Their friendship will not only boost your college experience, but it can have a beneficial impact when you begin applying for jobs after graduation.
Asking for Help
The initial conversation with a potential mentor may seem intimidating. It can be difficult to ask someone for friendship and guidance without becoming comfortable with them first.
Instead of being blunt about your desire for their advice, you should be proactive in identifying a person who took a career path like yours and casually explain how you admire their achievements and ask if they would be willing to engage in a short meeting.
Ideally, they will accept, and you can propose more frequent get-togethers if the meeting is a success.
Maintaining a Relationship
Once you have found a willing mentor, nurturing the relationship is important to maintain it. Be adamant about staying in touch where you share achievements and concerns. Over time, you will both become excited to express success stories and push each other to tackle more challenging tasks.
It’s important to reciprocate the friendship if your mentor reaches out to you for ideas or problem-solving. Together, you can share a wholesome relationship that lasts a lifetime.
Mentorship Programs
If finding a mentor proves to be difficult, your university may offer a program where current students are eager to provide their assistance. Check with your career counselors to find out if they have an alumni-mentoring program you can become a part of.
Working with these caring individuals may inspire you to take a similar approach to offer your friendship to incoming students as you progress through college.
If there is no available program, your school’s website will likely offer a database for alumni contact information. You can usually reach out to these graduates through email or a phone call to ask for a minute of their time for a casual conversation.
