In the September issue of Amstat News, Terry Speed asks, "What *is* mentoring and why is it a good thing?" (For his answer, see the article here: http://magazine.amstat.org/blog/2016/09/01/whatismentoring/)
What do you think? For my part, I agree that mentoring is at its best when it's a two-way (or sometimes many-way, in the case of peer mentoring!) street, where all individuals involved benefit from the relationship and come away with new knowledge, perspectives, and skills. Some of the most rewarding mentorship relationships I've had in my life, I'm not even sure my mentors were aware they were mentoring! We were simply deeply engaged in shared projects that mattered to us all. We all had hopes, skills,and ideas to contribute to the projects. Working together like that allowed me to watch and learn from my mentors' experience and work ethics, and I think they learned from me, as well. Those experiences gave me confidence and hope that I could accomplish goals I had been uncertain about before *and* that I could maintain personal integrity and represent a professional field well while doing so.
So what does mentoring mean to you? Why *is* it a good thing? How has it changed you for the better, whether you were a mentor, a mentee, or both at once?
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Lara Harmon
Marketing and Online Community Coordinator
American Statistical Association
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