Why Mentors are Vital for Anyone to Succeed

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of teaching a lesson to an Ag class of eleventh and twelfth grade students. Since leadership is a large part of FFA and agricultural education, I decided to do a lesson pertaining to this subject. I chose a lesson on mentors because I believe and can testify firsthand that mentors are extremely important for anyone to have in their life. Everyone needs someone who can serve as an encourager, someone to turn to help to, a shoulder to cry on, and someone to celebrate success with. I have had some great mentors in my life including my parents, a long time friend, and interviewing coaches that helped me through my State FFA Officer interviews.

My parents have always been my biggest fans. They do and have done so much for me and some of the things they do may even go unnoticed by me. I am thankful for all of kit! Currently they are taking care of my cattle for me while I am away at college, and that is no easy job! For most of my life I was raised by my Mom alone, and even though it was hard for her she always made sure that life was as normal as possible for me and my brother. Growing up she has taught me that perseverance and faith are the keys to being successful! My stepdad has always been someone I can trust and turn to when in need. Sometimes he shows that he cares about me through tough love when I need it, but tough love is what helps us all become the best version of ourselves. I love you Mom and Dad!

Another mentor of mine is my long-time friend, Cassidy. I remember the first day that I met her! I was an eighth grader and I walked into the Ag room for my first FFA meeting ever. Standing at the front of the room was someone who was energetic, talkative, and enthusiastic! I knew immediately that she was someone I needed as a friend in my life. Her energy and willingness to always be there for me, even if it was a text, phone call, or FaceTime, have helped me make it through hard times when I needed a friend like her! Because of her experience as an FFA officer and our chapter president, she was always the one I turned to for help with anything FFA! She also helped me through all the stressful days, bad test grades, and crushes in high school! She has taught me how to be tough and what it means to be a truly good friend and person!

The last two people that I will mention are the two people who helped me through my State FFA Officer elections, Kurt and Maile. Since then Kurt has went back to teaching, but he and Maile worked together at The Leadership Center in Aurora where they offer a lot of beneficial leadership programs for all ages! I registered for their FLEET program (FLEET is a part of their D4LC programs for individuals and organizations, for more information I linked their website below!) having no idea what I was getting into. All I knew was that a friend had recommended them to me and that I really cared about my State FFA Officer interviews so I wanted to get all the help I could. Looking back it was one of the best decisions I have ever made! Not only did I receive a lot of guidance on how to do a good interview, I also learned a lot about myself and gained two of the best people I've ever met as mentors. They told me that I was worthy of my goals and I could have a bigger impact than I realized. For that I can't thank them enough!

The people above are the reasons I decided to do this lesson with the students. For the lesson I split the students into two groups. In their groups they read an article out loud about why mentors are important for everyone. Then each group sent one member up to the whiteboard to write down one or two ideas of who a mentor could be. After that each student listed people in their own lives who could serve as their mentor. They selected one person from their list and wrote a heartfelt letter to that person asking them to be their mentor. The last part was my favorite because I believe it is always important to make sure that people who matter to us realize just how important they are to us! We also had discussion between activities and I added in my own personal experiences. I'm very thankful that I got to have this experience of teaching and leaving an impact on students!

For more information on the programs that The Leadership Center has to offer, here's their website! http://tlcaurora.org