Mentor Project Reflection

The Mentor project I participated in was girls club, we went to a local middle school on Thursday afternoons to meet with and mentor a group of approximately 20 eighth grade girls.  This was the third time we had gone to meet with the girls for their lunch for our mentor group time.  On this day the first thing we did was that we introduced ourselves and said our majors and where we see ourselves in a couple years.  We talked about what we want to do with our lives after we graduate college.  After this Tyler asked what they thought about self-image, and we discussed what their definition of self-image was.  After this I discussed what good self-image is and gave some examples of how to have good self-image and what some things they could think or say that would promote a positive self-image.  After I finished talking Tonyce gave an example of a bad self-image and spoke about what bad self-image is and why it is bad.  Then Sam told the girls about the importance of respect and of respecting other people's dreams and self-images.  This was an important topic to talk about because it can be hard to have a good self-image when others around you are not supporting or respecting you and your self-image.  Finally Alex explained the 'zine page that Melissa Gilbert asked us to have the girls do.  For the pages we had them draw where they see themselves in five years, after high school graduation.  After this the final thing we had the girls do was fill out the journal they write in every week.  Hannah explained the reflection they were to write; they were to explain their ‘zine page, so basically explain where they saw themselves after high school.  The girls were able to relate to us with this because we talked about where we wanted to be in five years and in five years they would be in the same place we are in our lives now.  The girls then also had to list 3 good qualities about themselves, doing this helped to promote a positive self-image.  Since we were on the topic of self-image and the importance of having a good self-image they also had to write things they could do to promote a good self-image.  The last thing they had to write was one good thing about the day, no matter what the topic was, we like to end the journal and reflection pieces with something good that happened or something they were looking forward to.

As a mentor I believe that my impact on the lives of the girls has been that they were able to have a positive role model who has been in their place before and can help give advice about the topics we have been discussing.  One on my most rewarding experiences so far in this mentorship was when the second week of meeting with the girls we were talking about “frienemies”  which are friends who are secretly or perhaps not so secretly you enemy.  On this day we split up into groups and came up with skits with one girl being a good friend, one being a bad friend, and then another being caught in the middle.  While in my group one of the girls told me that she had a “frienenemy” that she was currently trying to deal with, I was able to give her some advice from lessons I had learned from my own personal experiences.   After talking she and her friends in the group thanked me because they had no idea how to deal with

the bad friend in their lives.  It was a very rewarding experience to be able to help these young women to be able to know how to surround themselves with positive people who are good friends.

I learned that my own style of leadership works best when I am able to help people and give them advice from my own experiences.  I also noticed that I was able to help them with a personal problem while at the same time maintaining the sense of respect that they had for me.  In the past I have found it difficult to build relationships with people who I am considered a leader of, while at the same time being able to maintain the balance in the relationship.  I think that this is something I have learned in this class so far!  I am hoping that from this experience I have learned how to be a mentor better, and I hope that when I become a mentee I will be able to gain all sorts of insights from my mentor on how to deal with all sorts of situations

How do you lead yourself?

How do I lead myself...?
I lead myself with the decisions I make everyday.  Throughout this course we have had many wonderful speakers, these speakers have had some inspiring things to say.  There have been some speakers that i have related to more from than others, I really enjoy the pieces of advice they all have given.  Currently I am mentoring 8th graders at a local middle school and I have taken some of the advice from the speakers to help guide my words and actions when I am with the girls.  After every class, seeing and listening to the inspiring women who have come to talk about I not only feel like a stronger leader, but I feel like a stronger woman and person.  Also after every class I feel like I am leading myself, my personal life and my professional, in a more confident direction.  There are days when I go to my classes and don't feel like a leader but when I go to this class and then to mentoring the next morning I truly do feel like a leader.  I lead myself with my experiences everyday, that is that everyday, even if i do not feel like much of a leader, I try to make sure that I doing something to lead in some aspect of my life.  I think that the speakers, readings, and discussions from our class have really  helped me know that I can be a leader in so many aspects of my daily life.  

When Dames Bond, Dames thrive!!!

This week I was lucky enough to attend a DamesBond event with President Krendl.  It was great to see some of the women from our class at this event.  I really enjoyed going to the event in Worthington seeing as how I am from Worthington and knew the area, so when at the event they were talking to us about the different local farm markets and local food places, I knew what they were talking about and was even able to chime in with some great local food options.  I love that seeing how I am from so close to Otterbein that when I talk to people they know places near me.  However, back to the Dames Bond event, it was great to see all of these women in absolute awe of President Krendl and it was cool to see how intently they were listening to what she had to say, and to see all of the women interested in becoming our mentors.  I know that I personally saw half a dozen women taking notes and writing down information about our mentor program.  It was also so cool to see how excited the "dames" were to have us students there, immediately when we walked in we were bombarded by women asking us questions and if we were "the students".  It seemed to me as if everyone knew about us coming and were really excited about having us there.  It was great that Molly B Relotto was so excited to have us there and invited us to join them at any other dames bond event in the future.  Molly  B. is such a happy person who is genuinely excited about helping women help women further each other.  I really appreciate her inviting us and taking us along and helping us network with some of the women there!!  Molly also geared some of her talk to us as students and talked to us personally, and I know that it made me feel really welcome at the event!  Dames Bond is such an amazing group and I feel so honored to be welcomed into it.  And lastly I would just like to throw in "When Dames Bond, Dames Thrive"

government and baking cookies!

I really enjoyed listening to the women in politics speak to us last week.  I found it extremely interesting that most of the women's careers were influenced by one woman who basically started it all and made it possible for other women to join the world of politics.  I found it interesting that her entire career started by baking cookies and helping and supporting others campaigns and then deciding that she could do a better job.  I was also inspired by the fact that she may have lost her first election but she came back for the next elections and won.  They gave some really great advice about how you should never put your name out there for an election that you aren't willing to loose.  I thought that was a great way to think about it.  I also like that they were able to admit that they take losing an election very difficult, and ave to take at least two weeks to get over it where no one talks to them about it and by then the are able to work through losing the election.


I enjoyed hearing the woman talk who was currently in office at the state house, I found her stories really interesting because I was trying to guess who the people she was talking about were.  I also enjoyed it because I have visited the state house several times over the years for school, and could picture where she worked and what her daily work life looked like.

  I also thought that the women gave great advice and  had great stories to share. I would really have enjoyed listening to them longer and hearing more of their life and experiences.  I think that in the future if we are really enjoying a panel we should be able to let them continue their discussion.  


oh on a side note, I want to say how excited I am to go to President Krendl's house tonight to bake cookies for class!