Kristi Demski
Mentee Blog Post
Principles of Management
This past weekend I got a chance to talk to my mentor, who happens to be on my basketball team. Her and I have always been friends, but I’ve looked up to her on and off the court for her leadership skills and poise. No matter what the situation looks like for her, she continually works hard. She’s also a business major, so she’s given me advice on everything ranging from school to basketball to everyday life.
We talked about a lot of things. We started off by talking about dealing with sports and the difficulty of not tying our identities and overall outlooks on life to basketball. In talking to her, I was able to gain some perspective on how to overcome those things. She also talked about dealing with disappointment and how to not let success or lack thereof affect the effort we bring to practices or games. She went on to say that this type of mentality is infectious; because basketball is such a long season, it is easy to begin to go through the motions and not give your best effort every day, but being more focused on bringing positive energy every day to practice has been really helpful.
We then went on to talk about spiritual growth. In talking to her I realized that, especially while in season, having a devotion every day and continually talking to God throughout the day is crucial. She convicted me that my quiet time is not enough of a priority for me. While I may go through the motions of having a quiet time, I don’t always give my undivided attention and I don’t sacrifice much to have my quiet time. She, on the other hand, routinely wakes up at 5 in the morning just so she can have a quiet time before our practice. Seeing that type of commitment to having a quiet time was a good model for me.
It was also great to get advice from her about everyday life, like how to handle myself in a friendship and dealing with conflict. While we didn’t talk for that long, almost everything she said resonated with me because her actions reflect everything she says with her words. It was altogether a success, and while I was unsure whether it might be awkward in the beginning, it wasn’t at all.
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ReplyDeleteKristi, his sounds like a really good conversation. I think it's great that your mentor was willing to tell you that she thought you were not sufficiently prioritizing time alone with God. That kind of honesty is incredibly valuable! Furthermore, I can definitely relate to your sentiment about how it is easy to tie personal value and identity to performance in sports or other hobbies. It is a practice that can prove to be very stressful, so I am glad that you and your mentor had the opportunity to talk through it together. You and your mentor talked about some really pertinent issues; it sounds like her presence in your life is a real blessing!
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