The Importance of Being Mentored- Part II

         So in Part I of "The Importance of Being Mentored" I wrote on how choosing to be mentored made me a better person. In case you missed Part I here's a link to help you catch up!

http://archvarious.blogspot.in/2014/06/the-importance-of-being-mentored-part-i.html

Now that you're caught up! Let's dive right in!

         In my opinion, mentors can be anyone you look up to in your field and with enough knowledge and experience to be able to help you. You cant force them to mentor you but rather request it and the last thing you want is to disrespect them, offend them or tick them off.

• Mentors are like friends. They want to see you grow and are not insecure about the professional competition you might pose later on if you improve drastically. They share wisdom freely and encourage you when they truly feel you have potential. 

• They are like parents too. Tell them about your wild ideas and big plans for the future. They are bound to tell you the same things your parents would except without all the drama. They can put themselves in your parent's shoes to understand their point of view and at the same time tell you if a dream is worth pursuing simply based on your capability and the odds of it being a success. 

• They are your role models. Observing how they work, their work ethic, how they dress and how they speak can help you learn the right way they do things and be more professional. After all, they are successful at what they do because of how they do it. They may not divulge their trade secrets to you but they will invariably put it in very abstract terms and let you figure it out.

• They are the best people to guide your work. Especially things like research papers and thesis require a lot of expert advice to be good. After a while, mentors get to know your areas of interest and will not discourage you to take up a dissertation or project just because their knowledge on the subject is limited, unlike quintessential college professors, because they know the topic means something to you personally. Instead a good mentor will specially read up and do his own research on the topics you love just so they can really understand what you are trying to convey and help you focus and get you past road blocks. Don't expect to be spoon fed though. It's not like your mentor has nothing else to do apart from explaining the difference between Pin-Jointed trusses and Vierendeel trusses.   

          Sometimes, if they like you enough they just might bail you out of a sticky situation or rave about you to other people as well as get you some great opportunities! Find your friend -philosopher-guide and get that jet pack to stay ahead of the rest in the crazy rat race that is LIFE. Cheers to that!