January is National Mentoring Month! This annual campaign to promote youth mentoring across the United States was established in 2002. Robins’ Nest currently offers two youth mentoring programs, our Adolescent Mentoring Program, which matches mentors with youth living in Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem counties who are involved with the Division of Child Protection and Permanency, and our Connect to Mentoring Program, in which Burlington County youth involved with the Division of Child Protection and Permanency are matched with a mentor.
We are so thankful to have wonderful volunteers who devote their time to our mentoring programs! In celebration of National Mentoring Month, Andi Rubertone, a mentor in our Adolescent Mentoring program, shared her story on what being a mentor means to her and the strong impact our program has had on both her and her mentee.
Being a mentor is such an amazing feeling! This amazing feeling is defined by knowing that you are helping another individual live a successful and happy life through your presence and guidance. I mentor because I like knowing that I am making a difference and improving an individual’s skills to develop into a successful and happy human being. To me, it is an amazing feeling when your mentee comes to you for advice, or for help, or just to talk. Knowing that I built that relationship with my mentee is such a great feeling.
Being a mentor has really opened my eyes. I have always known that not everyone was brought up in the best way, but by becoming a mentor, it became surreal to me by actually seeing an example of how someone was not raised in the best way. It breaks my heart that some people have to go through such tough obstacles in their lives, but by being someone’s mentor, I can help my mentee get over any of life’s speed bumps. My mentee enhanced my world by showing me what it’s like to have someone depend on you to fill the void that results from not having the best upbringing.
There are many benefits to mentoring, not just for the mentee, but for me as well. Being a mentor makes me want to strive to become an even better person every single day. The blissful feeling I get knowing I am helping someone is indescribable.
Overall, being a mentor has so many advantages that I could talk about all day. Knowing that an individual’s life is in my hands and that I have the potential to help them live a better, happier life is such a blessing. By being a mentor, I know that I am aiding in building a better society. If more and more people became mentors, that would create a stepping stone to improving our society into a more stable one. Most importantly, I would like to end with the fact that the biggest benefit for me, best enhancement, best pro about becoming a mentor is that I know my mentor relationship will be for a lifetime. This is unbeatable, and the most important benefit of mentoring, for both me and my mentee!