This years mentoring experience was definitely something new to me. I have never experienced meeting with someone just to talk about me. It challenged me to come out of my comfort zone and confide in someone other than close family and friends.
I was shocked when I realized how much me and my mentor, Dr. Fortino, had in common. I knew the process was to make sure we got someone who was similar to us, but I did not know how much of a match we would be. I felt like I was being completely transparent with him. He let me rant about whatever problems I was having and had answers to pretty much all of my problems which helped me calm down so much. I don’t know what I would’ve done my first year of college without having someone to confide in.
I felt it pretty challenging at first to open up about everything that was going on. I had never experienced telling someone what was going on without it being someone close to me. After the first couple of sessions, I was able to finally start talking about things other than what he had planned for us. I actually started coming in and confiding to him about my week or what was bothering me and he offered me such great advice. I truly am so thankful to have been able to had a mentor throughout this year.