6. Seek Out a Mentor
One of the most valuable relationships you can cultivate in your 20s is a mentoring relationship with someone who’s a little older, a little wiser, someone who can be a listening ear and sounding board during a high change season.
This has been valuable beyond words for me. Every (almost) faculty member in my program is encouraging, supportive, and generally kind. Not to mention brilliantly smart. I am SO fortunate to have the learning experience I do and I know I will leave CSU with the best education I could get. One person in particular, though, has made a huge impact on my personal and professional development. She is one of the most compassionate and smart women I know; and she almost wasn't here. See, she almost died (THREE times) about a year before I came to CSU. Heart failure, pneumonia, and a host of other things almost took her from me. Yes, it is selfish, but I have learned more from her than anyone else.
When I hear her story, I think about how different my life would be without her. I think about how much I have learned from her, and how much I have yet to learn. She is my encourager, my challenger, and my biggest supporter. To be sappy, I am so lucky to have her as a professor and supervisor. This blog does nothing close to expressing my gratitude, my love, and my respect for her. I hope it encourages you to find a mentor who does the same thing for you that mine has done for me.
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