Lessons From Your First-Ever Mentor Session — Wesley Hong
Let me set the stage…
April 4th, 2021. I just signed up on ADPList and looking for a mentor for the first time. Five seconds in, and I’m completely overwhelmed with the number of mentors on the site. I quickly left the site, only to find myself looking again five minutes after.
Fast forward a couple of hours later, I’m watched videos about UX on YouTube when I stumbled upon a video from one of my favorite UX YouTubers. Turned out, he’s a mentor on ADPList and as soon as I found that out, I booked a session with him.
That YouTuber’s name is Wesley Hong, and he’s been a huge influence in my transition into UX, mainly his “UX Design Bootcamps : 11 Things You Should Know” video. I loved his personality and the way he spoke, so it was a no-brainer that I wanted to pick this guy’s brain.
After an hour-long conversation, I knew that I came out of that experience more knowledgeable and better equipped than when I initially booked that session. Going through my old journal, I was able to find my notes from our session and sharing them with you all today:
1. Write down your experience each day
The first lesson Wesley told me during our conversation was to write everything down. Write down your emotions, write down what you did, and start writing now (this was the extra push that I needed to start doing it).
He told me the reason why is because writing your case studies from memory is so difficult, so being able to reference back to your thoughts when writing saves a lot of headaches.
This is the advice that I still carry with me to this day. Even if it’s not for a case study, I journal daily, and being able to look back and see how much progress you made is so satisfying. That’s why I keep 3 different journals, each with its purpose.
2. Learn how to tell a story
Wesley was able to explain this to me by relating it to something we have in common: dance. By being a dancer, we have to communicate our movement and story to the audience, which is the same concept we have to do when writing a case study.
Being able to tell our case studies uniquely is how we draw people to them. If we simply wrote them without the highs and lows, or the pivotal moments that make good stories so exciting, then how can we expect someone to feel the same way?
This was one of my favorite lessons, because not only did he emphasize this, but many mentors after him drew significance to this. It showed me that designers are storytellers.
3. Get involved in the community
Meeting Wesley on ADPList was only the first step into a crazy journey of meeting others. He told me to get involved in the community as much as I can. Attend events, network with others, put yourself out there (again, the extra push for me to do this).
Wesley proved to me that this was important because if he didn’t put himself out there with his videos, no one would have discovered him. This motivated me to do the same exact thing of starting a YouTube channel and creating content to share with the world.
Not only that, but this tip has helped me overcome those fears of meeting other people. I felt more confident in myself, that after that meeting I went ahead and started networking with people. The power of motivation from others.
What did you learn?
After my meeting with Wesley, I immediately looked back and my notes and thought to myself “I’m glad I booked that session.” Because if I didn’t take that chance to talk with him, I would’ve been walking into class the next day not knowing these lessons.
And so if there’s one takeaway that I can share with others from this experience, it’s to take a chance. You never know how your session is going to be, so shoot your shot of talking to a mentor, because you may end up getting the advice you need to push yourself forward.
If you wanna book a session with Wesley, check out his ADPList profile here! Check out his YouTube content and of course, remember to thank him for his time. I and Wesley still chat to this day, and it’s nice to have a connection you forged from the start of your UX journey.
If you found this helpful, feel free to check out my other articles! Connect with me on LinkedIn if you want to keep the conversation going, and check out my YouTube channel to see me interact with other beginner and senior designers within the community.
Want some mentor recommendations? Check out my ADPList profile and my post on how to look for mentors.
