[Al Skierkiewicz]

John et al,
I think there is a big difference between mentor and teacher. I admire the teachers out there for the work they do everyday. Teaching is an efficient and effective method of transmitting a large amount of information and checking that the students have retained it. Mentoring is different in that the process is not very efficient, sometimes it is ineffective and the checks are largely self imposed by the person being mentored. A good mentor realizes that the life of anyone that they meet is forever changed. That change can be good or bad but it is the responsibility of each person to try and make that change a good one. Mentors make the greatest impression when they are living what they are teaching. Whether that is imparting engineering principles or simply a way to work with others. A mentor knows that each of us is different, that we learn at different rates, using different techniques. A mentor sees the obstacles and works around them to help the mentored learn something new. For those mentoring in First, it is imperative that we realize that a student in an 18 year old body is going to act like a 12 year old every once in a while. We need to remember that so much information is pushed at our students that they will forget what they learned last year and will need some retraining. A mentor will need to know when a question is a better path to learning than a lecture. They know that sometimes, it is necessary to just walk away for a few minutes to leave the student alone in their thoughts. Above all, we must remember to award success, encourage learning, and find real answers to questions even if unrelated to the project.
One of the greatest moments as a mentor came when I was a Webelos Scout leader. We had bought the boys tool box kits. My assistant and I felt that the boys needed to push themselves a little so we announced that we would not be showing them how to assemble the tool box. We would provide hands to hold parts together and demonstrate tools use but would not go beyond that. We had one boy who was very stressed that he would not be one to finish the project. We encouraged him to read the instructions and perform each step. When the evening came to an end he brought his toolbox over and informed us that he had no more parts. I asked "Does it look like the picture?" and he replied "yes". Then I told him, "I guess you are done." He replied "This is the first thing I have ever done that I didn't screw up." There was a genuine change in his face, a pride, a knowledge of self worth. It is times like that when you know you have connected somehow.
In the big scheme of things, life is a path you travel. People are coming at you from every side. Some are bumping you onto a deadend path, some are bumping you onto long and hard path, some are turning you around to retrace your steps. I have been very lucky that the bumps that I have received kept me on a pretty straight line. I thank God for that every day.