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A college mentor can have an indelible impact on the life of a student in many different ways. Check out some of the reasons why having a mentor in college is so important.
Gives Your Confidence A Boost When You Need It Most
With a rigid curriculum, nonstop exams and assignments, and plenty of studying, it’s not unusual for students to feel overwhelmed. They start to worry if perhaps they’ve made the wrong choice. Or, maybe they are do not have it in them to meet the many challenges involved in the program.
At times like these, having somebody to encourage you can give your confidence a huge boost and motivate you to set your targets higher. That is exactly what a mentor does. A mentor will pick you up when you fall and remind you that the destination is just around the corner. They help you to keep going when things get too much to handle.
You Get An Insider’s Perspective
Mentors have a lot more experience than mentees. Your mentor may have gone through the same stages that you are going through now. Alternatively, they know other professionals who have navigated the same path in their career at some time. This puts them in a unique position. They can offer you advice and tips on how to handle specific situations, which direction to focus your energies on, and what to de-prioritize on your journey towards graduation. By breaking things down in order of importance, they help you get a better perspective on which activity has more weight in your professional and personal life.
You get Advice on Balancing Responsibilities
Most students struggle with balancing various aspects of their college life—academic, professional, social, and personal. All of these are equally important to develop an all-round personality. If you find yourself struggling to juggle all of your responsibilities, a mentor can help you find your bearings and develop a more balanced approach.
Expands Your Professional Network
If you have the ambition and drive and are willing to work hard, your mentor will be only too happy to introduce you to colleagues, ex-students, friends and other relevant people in the industry who could potentially be of immense help to your career. This can be especially important when you are looking to ease the transition from an academic circle to the industry. That is where most graduates report having the biggest problem adjusting to. With a mentor, you are already one step ahead of other applicants in the job pool!
Sharing Can Help Reduce Your Burden
Sometimes, all you need is someone to lend you a caring ear. Just being able to speak to someone and share all your troubles, feelings, emotions and fears has a way of making these issues seem smaller. Most times, this can bring you a level of clarity that makes it easier for you to handle complex issues yourself.
Sometimes all a student needs to succeed is somebody to give them guidance and steer them in the right direction. That’s exactly what a mentor does.
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