UVM Theses and Dissertations
Format:
Print
Author:
Paradee, Melissa A.
Dept./Program:
College of Education and Social Services
Year:
2010
Degree:
Ed. D.
Abstract:
Mentorships can have a lasting effect on both mentors and mentees. Mentorships challenge mentees to take risks, set new goals, and achieve personal and professional standards. They also provide a forum to discuss professional issues and hot topics as well as receive advice on how to find a balance between personal life and new founded .responsibilities. Mentors are challenged to reflect upon their own leadership, training, and coaching skills and enhance them. Mentoring demonstrates a commitment to personal and professional growth for oneself and colleagues as well as providing intrinsic satisfaction by assisting a mentee develop to hislher potential.
As a second-generation college student who felt more like a first-generation college student, I struggled with learning how to navigate the college system and with what I was supposed to do with my life after I graduated from college. I believe I would have benefitted from a mentor by feeling more at ease, understanding the system I was a part of, and having a trusted guide to talk to about opportunities after college. Fortunately, I met two mentors; one who assisted me through a masters program and provided me with professional experience in my career choice of higher education/student affairs; and another who supported me throughout my doctoral program, challenging me to reflect upon myself as I digested information on educational leadership and policy studies. The guidance I have received from my mentors has taken me in directions tharI may not have known about otherwise. In turn, I have taken the lessons I have learned and shared them with my mentees, hoping to provide them with the support and encouragement that I feel like I missed out on in my early college career.
Using the research methodology of Scholarly Personal Narrative, this dissertation will explore the practice of mentorships and how they can impact both mentors and mentees. Weaved in will be themes of meaning making, how we as human beings try to make sense of our lives through means of spirituality, asking questions, and seeking advice from our trusted mentors. This dissertation will also show how student affairs professionals and students (current or former) can learn together and make a difference in one another's lives through mentorship.
As a second-generation college student who felt more like a first-generation college student, I struggled with learning how to navigate the college system and with what I was supposed to do with my life after I graduated from college. I believe I would have benefitted from a mentor by feeling more at ease, understanding the system I was a part of, and having a trusted guide to talk to about opportunities after college. Fortunately, I met two mentors; one who assisted me through a masters program and provided me with professional experience in my career choice of higher education/student affairs; and another who supported me throughout my doctoral program, challenging me to reflect upon myself as I digested information on educational leadership and policy studies. The guidance I have received from my mentors has taken me in directions tharI may not have known about otherwise. In turn, I have taken the lessons I have learned and shared them with my mentees, hoping to provide them with the support and encouragement that I feel like I missed out on in my early college career.
Using the research methodology of Scholarly Personal Narrative, this dissertation will explore the practice of mentorships and how they can impact both mentors and mentees. Weaved in will be themes of meaning making, how we as human beings try to make sense of our lives through means of spirituality, asking questions, and seeking advice from our trusted mentors. This dissertation will also show how student affairs professionals and students (current or former) can learn together and make a difference in one another's lives through mentorship.