No excuse for not passing it on

I will be completely honest: When Peggy Liermann asked me over a year ago to consider becoming a TeamMates mentor, I was hesitant. With a baby due in October, I didn’t see how fitting an hour every week for mentoring would work in my schedule. So I told her to ask me in a year, figuring that if she was anything like me, it would be forgotten in the bustle of daily life.

Fortunately, Peggy is not me. Sure enough, last August she approached me again and this time, I knew there was no excuse.

A background check, a couple of hours of training and an overview of the TeamMates mentoring program — founded in 1991 by Tom and Nancy Osborne to provide support and encouragement to school-aged youth — and I was ready to meet my mentee.

Here’s what I’ve discovered in my first semester of mentoring: It’s fun. It’s rewarding. It’s much less of a time commitment than I anticipated. The hour I spend with my student passes more quickly than any other hour in the week. We talk, write and she beats me at Yahtzee nearly every game.

January is National Mentoring Month and Jan. 26 has been designated as “Thank Your Mentor Day.”

I’ve been blessed to have several excellent mentors in my life, people who took an interest in my passions and nurtured me in the pursuit of them. Without them, I don’t know that I’d be doing what I am today, and I am thankful for their positive influences.

There are two ways to honor your mentor: 1) Contact your mentor to express your appreciation and 2) Pass it on by becoming a mentor to a young person in your community.

I don’t meet with my mentors for an hour every week — in fact, it’s been years since I’ve seen most of them. But they’re never far from my thoughts, especially on the days when I serve as a mentor.

Mentoring isn’t about perfection or solving every problem. It’s about encouragement and support, building a relationship with youth to give them a sense of purpose and hope.

It’s about passing it on.

On the Lighter Side

Published January 25, 2012