Resolve To Be A Mentor During National Mentoring Month
Happy New Year! With it being not only a new year but also a new decade, I’m feeling a bit of extra pressure on making resolutions. Do you feel that way too?
If one of your resolutions is to increase your volunteering activities, consider being a mentor! January is National Mentoring Month. Led by Mentor.org, the goal of National Mentoring Month is to focus national attention on the need for mentors and to increase the number of mentors to help ensure positive outcomes for young people.
The Mentor.org website presents insightful data on the positive impact made by mentors. For example, at-risk youth who have a mentor are:
46% less likely than their peers to start using illegal drugs and 27% less likely to start drinking
52% less likely to skip a day of school
55% more likely to attend college
81% more likely to participate regularly in sports or extracurricular activities
Comments from our Couragion STEM role models also provide insight into the positive impact that mentors provide. For example, our Web Developer role model shared that his older brother was an excellent mentor because he set the example of the importance of school and going to college. Another example is from our Laser Engineering Technician role model who shared that she selected her career path due to a Scientist mentor. The Scientist judged her science fair project and was so impressed that he encouraged her to pursue an engineering degree. The Scientist also awarded her an internship in his lab which helped her to pay for college! A third example is from our Welder role model. She shared how a teacher was her mentor. She described the teacher as gruff and stern, yet caring. She said that the teacher held her to such a high standard of work that it made her want to work harder. This enabled her to do so well in her welding courses that she was able to secure a prestigious welding apprenticeship position.
If making this type of positive impact is appealing to you, check out the Mentor.org site for recommendations on how to become a mentor and how to find mentoring opportunities in your area.
In addition, if you have been positively impacted by a mentor, please share details with us and thank them via Twitter (#ThankYourMentor). We are so thankful for our Couragion role models who serve as amazing virtual mentors for thousands of underrepresented students.
We wish you the best for 2020 and look forward to a new decade of working together to improve outcomes for youth!
