Mentor meeting #1

Jake Hibben
Dr. Schaler
Management
6 Feburary 2016

        This past weekend I was able to meet up with my mentor for the first time as a mentor-mentee. My mentor is an upperclassman who is currently finishing their senior year here at Wheaton. I have found in past experiences with mentors or people who speak advice into my life that the hardest barrier to overcome is the difference in age. I understand that the older you are, the more experiences you which would lead to higher levels of advice, however, I have always found it hard to truly connect with someone who understands exactly what I have gone through and what I am currently going through. My mentor and I have had an excellent relationship before I asked him to be my mentor, however, looking back on it now, I have found that a lot of the conversations we have had have been the same as mentor meetings. We always seem to just talk about life and the struggles that each of us are going through and I have always been able to find great advice from some of the things that he has said. This past weekend was a great example of that. 

We are both currently on the track and field team here at Wheaton and to be able to have a mentor meeting during all of that was an incredible experience. It was relaxed and calming to be able to take in everything that he was saying. I was able to ask a ton of questions just about his life and how mentorship has helped him or hurt him throughout college. The main thing that I realized was that we experienced the same school of thought when it came to having a mentor. He had a pastor back home that he could call and use as a mentor however he found the hardest part was the age gap. He felt that it was really hard to fully understand each other and fully understand the positions that he was going through and how best to approach them. For me, I worried about that same thing, but given the fact that my mentor and I are at the same school and we are on the same track team, we were able to really come together and get through different things in life. I find myself constantly going to him for advice whether its advice with classes or advice with sports or even relationships. He may not have the same experiences or advice as someone twice his age. However, I have found more truth in our talks than I have from any other mentor and I am excited for where this mentor/mentee relationship takes us.