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Aristotle is famous for saying —among many other things—that humans are “social animals.” Social relationships, which include professional relationships, are the foundation of our society; without them, we could not survive. Throughout your life—both in and out of school—you’re going to meet a lot of people. You will learn from many of these people and you will teach others. Such is the give-and-take nature of human relationships. When you’re young, you tend to be more on the receiving end of these relationships, and that is exactly what this blog post is about: how to take advantage (in a good way) of your relationships. Eduify has prepared this list of five types of people who can become great mentors for you and, in both the short and the long-term, help you meet your academic and professional goals.

Mentors, on a basic level, are people from whom we learn something that will be valuable to us in the future. Mentors are generally older than we are and have more experience than we do. Thus, the range of people who can potentially be our mentors and the range of things they can teach us are extremely broad. In addition to professing their expert knowledge to us and teaching us valuable life skills, mentors also make great references and they’re great people to approach when you need a letter of recommendation for your college applications. Such recommendations will help you to stand out from all the other graduating seniors when you’re applying for college, which will only help your chances of getting in to the college of your choice.

Teachers or Professors

We’ve all had great teachers or professors. They’ve taught us things not only about English or Math or Science, but also about life that we will not soon (if ever) forget. They’ve made the extra effort to influence our lives in a positive way. They’ve seen the individual potential that we possess and have encouraged us to live up to it. They’ve been more than our teachers—they’ve been our friends. For all of these reasons, our teachers often make the best mentors. Teachers, too, are the most accessible potential mentors and they are, more often than not, willing to help.

Community Leaders

Even if you’re not planning a career in business or politics, you will benefit from the influence of the leaders in your community. Perhaps the most valuable lesson they can teach you is the importance of leadership. Just speaking for a few minutes to a business executive or a City Counsel member will help you better understand how businesses and even cities are operated and governed, but, if you can convince one to take you under his or her wing, you will have made yourself a very important ally. The first step, of course, is to arrange a meeting with one of leaders in your community. Make a list of several people from whom you feel you could learn about leadership. Business executives and government officials are very busy people, but they are often receptive to young, up-and-coming leaders who seek out their influence. Once you’ve established the relationship, soak up everything you can from your mentor. Offer to help out around the office—your enthusiasm will not go unnoticed.

Specialists in your Chosen Field

Who better to look up to than people who have proven their ability in the field you’ve chosen for yourself? If you want to be a journalist, seek out a columnist or reporter from the local paper. If you want to be a doctor, a columnist probably won’t be much help, but a doctor or a nurse will. Having a professional in your chosen field (or a field that interests you) as your mentor will be extremely valuable because he or she can show you the ropes of the profession and guide you along throughout the process of achieving your goals. If you haven’t yet decided what you want to do for a career (don’t worry, there’s no rush), try to find someone in a field that interests you or about which you are curious. Such relationships will help you make your decision about your career.

Bosses & Co-workers

Who can better attest to your work ethic than the people with whom you’ve worked? Even if you’ve only worked in a retail store or a restaurant, many of the skills you’ve gained are transferable to other, more lucrative, positions. Further, certain traits—such as a strong work ethic, honesty, and integrity—are recognized universally as very positive traits. Though you may not strive to be a restaurant or retail store manager, you can still learn a lot about leadership by picking the brains of those who have risen to that level.

Family

The first people you probably ever looked up to were your parents. You emulated them as a child, probably defied them as an adolescent, and, as you get older, you begin just to look up to them and admire them for, if nothing else, being able to put up with you for all these years. Family members make great mentors—partially because they know you and partially because they care about you and want to see you succeed. If your uncle is a firefighter or police officer, ask him if you could spend a day at the station to see if that would be something you’re interested in doing. If your mother is a teacher, spend a few weeks helping out in her class. Who knows? Something might click.
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Having a mentor to help you get a better understanding of how to succeed in college, in a profession, or in life is extremely valuable. As social animals we learn from one another, and, as a result of our relationships, we grow.

Trivia Question: Who was the original Mentor?
Hint: Telemachus was his protégé.

Cartoon Credit and Copyright by Scott Adams, Dilbert