I mentor because I love seeing people thrive. I mentor because I was mentored. I mentor because mentoring is at the core of the Christian life.
I was a college student who had a plan, some abilities, and was willing to work hard. And I was on track to carry out my plan to become a physical therapist. Until I encountered several mentors. Man, did they mess up my life! Or rather, they were voices for God to mess up my life…for the better.
I mentor because I was mentored.
I was young and just starting seminary. My first seminary professor in my first seminary class walked in slowly carrying a large stack of books and papers. He set them down on his desk, looked across the hundred or so students in the classroom and said, “Beloved, let’s begin.”
“Beloved?” I responded with a bit of sarcasm in my mind. He doesn’t even know me. Am I going to have to sit through King James lectures all semester?
But sit under his lectures I did, and I might have even learned some of the content as well. But the real lesson was always, “Beloved.”
Why I Mentor…
When I entered college at the University of Cincinnati, my goal was to get away from the calling that I knew God had on my life. I knew He had called me to ministry, but I wanted no part in it.
My mother sent an email to the Campus Pastor for the Baptist Collegiate Ministry at UC, Ken Dillard. He contacted me and invited me to a gathering of Christians on campus.
I reluctantly went — and things have never been the same since then.
Why I Mentor…
I love doing life and ministry with young adult women. More often than not, these young women teach me and pour into my life with their fresh perspectives. Here are three lesson’s I’ve learned from spending time with my “slightly” younger girlfriends that I mentor.
I didn’t grow up desiring to someday be a mentor. I “fell” into it when a colleague suggested I interview for a Resident Director (R.D.) position. I was looking for a new job and it seemed like an adventure — especially since the university was in Southern California!!!
After over 20 years of R.D. life and serving with over 170 Resident Assistants (R.A.s), I can truly say that I am a different person from interacting and walking with many wonderful college students.