The Power of a Mentor

My mentor and I, at our favorite coffee shop, shamelessly coordinated outfits so that we would match.

As humans we are wired to have ups and downs. We set New Year’s resolutions, only to keep them for a few weeks at most. We say we are going to do something, but end up procrastinating. It is normal, and everyone does it. As for me, I can beat myself up emotionally for days. I can set goals and fall short of them faster than a college student can finish up a bowl of ramen. As a first-year student, I was nervous to come into college. Transitioning from a high school where I had spent 14 years of my life with only 65 people in my grade, I did not know what to expect. I had no idea how to manage the ropes of college, what to get involved in, or how to balance my academics and social life. I desired more than anything to “find my people” and like every other college student, the “what ifs” never stopped going through my mind.

It was not until my first month of college that I was told the Fellows program I am in would give each person in my cohort the opportunity to choose a mentor from the cohort above mine. I did not know what the term “mentor” exactly entailed. I decided to look it up in the dictionary and found that a mentor is “someone that guides and helps others reach their full potential.” The only people that had ever challenged me in life had been my teachers and parents, never someone that was close in age. I wondered how someone the same age as me would have knowledge and perspective that would help me grow as a person.

Fast forward six months later, my mentor has completely changed my Elon experience. He is someone who has completely helped me grow as a person and is someone who knows me better than I know myself. So, here are four reasons why having a mentor increases your collegiate success and why everyone should find one.

1. Mentors offer knowledge and outside perspective

As a first-year student, I asked a lot of questions. These questions ranged from what classes I should take to making a resume. Since my mentor is a year above me, he understands what it is like to be a confused, little freshie. With a mentor there from the start, I was able to have a wealth of knowledge that helped guide me in the right direction. According to George Lucas, famous film-maker, “Mentors have a way of seeing more of our faults than we would like. It’s the only way we grow.” He is able to use his perspective to help me see from a different lense.

This is my mentor and I right after I hugged him too hard and ended up shattering his phone screen from making him drop it.

2. They are connectors

Not only has my mentor become one of my best friends, but his friends have become my friends as well. Having a mentor enables me to be close with people who are older than me, and has exposed to me to a whole other group of people. One of his closest friends is now my big sister in my sorority, and his roomate has introduced me to organizations on campus that I now love to be apart of. Not only has my circle become much larger, but it has also shown me that one person can introduce you to a whole array of new perspectives.

3. Offer encouragement (for free)

My mentor has become my personal therapist as well. Have a bad day? Tell your mentor and they will buy you coffee. Need to vent? Cry to your mentor and get free hugs. A mentor is not just someone who wants you to succeed, but it is someone who wants you to feel good as well. My mentor is someone that I know will always brighten up my day whenever something goes wrong or not according to plan. They will always have your back, and when you are down, they feel down as well. One of the best memories I have with my mentor is going grocery shopping in the middle of the night, just because I needed a break from all of my work.

Here is my mentor and I when we accidently ran into each other at the Billy Joel concert in Winston-Salem not knowing we were a mentee/mentor pair yet.

4. Good mentors will challenge you

My mentor has offered me some tough love. He does this because he wants me to reach my full potential and wants me to succeed. The constructive criticism that my mentor has offered me has given me insight that has helped me improve in areas that I did not want to acknowledge. A good mentor will refuse to let you settle, and will make it known when they believe you can do more.

So, Alex Xouris, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being one the greatest things Elon has given me. From coordinating our outfits, to trying artsy restaurants in Graham, to learning how to have an aesthetically pleasing Instagram account, you have truly become one of my best friends. To anyone else who has ever wanted someone to have their back, ask someone you look up to, or someone you have never even spoken to, to be your mentor. You will learn so much about yourself and maybe even find your person.