ELEMENTS OF MENTORING
In the sections to come, you will encounter the elements of mentoring we find salient. Please feel free to add your own!
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You will see that images of trees and roses accompany our words here. For us, they symbolize the natural beauty, power, and interdependence of who we are and what we can be to each other.
Yes, it is bread we fight for but we fight for roses, too.
- James Oppenheim
This project started with a mentor's letter to her mentees following their graduation:
To my Posse:
Greetings – I hope that you, your families, and your family of friends are well.
I want to write about what I learned as your Posse mentor. I want this learning to spread and contribute to positive, lasting change on Bryn Mawr’s campus and beyond.
To say it most succinctly, this is what I learned:
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Be honest
Be yourself
Listen with the intent to learn
Respect, trust, and believe the student
Be ready to question institutional norms
Remember that you can’t know what is realistic for someone else
Keep your promises
Be accessible
Expect to move in ways not familiar to you
Lift your students up
Let yourself be lifted up by your students
These lessons may sound simple, but applying them is not.
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-- Alice Lesnick