Mentor Interview

For my mentor interview I was fortunate enough to go on a site visit and do it in person! I am very grateful to have been able to see all that the Lewinsville Adult Day Health Care and Senior Center have to offer and meet the wonderful staff. I interviewed my fantastic mentor Mariellen and was able to find out more about her and her job working in Adult Day Health Care. I have attached our interview below for reference.

What are the 2 most important “take-aways” you learned from your mentor?

During my interview, when I asked Mariellen how she embraces failure, she said:

I’ve learned that there’s much to learn from my mistakes even more so than my successes. When at Lewinsville ADHC, I’d constantly evaluate the effectiveness of our team and programs being offered. I’d seek the input from fellow staff, volunteers, interns, participants and family members on how to best improve our services (M. Combs, personal communication, June 9, 2020).

I appreciated how she emphasized the key role that evaluating has on program and staff efficiency. It’s important to look at our past failures to better ourselves in the future, for if we continue doing the same thing over again without evaluating ourselves how would we ever grow?

Another valuable take away I learned was that it’s okay to sometimes just “leave work at work.” I feel that in this profession it can be very easy to become too attached to work and bring it home which can sometimes spiral into unwanted and avoidable stress. I am glad Mariellen shared her experience with this, she said:

I often got emotionally attached to my participants and teammates and had to learn how to sometimes separate my feelings from some of the situations I faced. I found it valuable to discuss my feelings with my supervisor/mentor at LADC, Carol Bracey (M. Combs, personal communication, June 9, 2020).

I thought it was great how she included her solution to this. Talking to your supervisor about this can be very helpful because they have likely been in your place at one time or another and can offer guidance.

What are the 2 most surprising things you learned about your mentor?

After asking Mariellen what her greatest accomplishment was, she was very excited to share with me how she helped lead her teammates in creating a special event together that later got published in the October 2012 issue of Creative Forecasting magazine.

I always enjoyed creating new and exciting special events for our participants and challenged our team to help create a “FALLing into Fun Festival.” Each of my five Program Assistants were asked to create a fall-themed activity station that they’d facilitate with the help of other team members and volunteers the day of our special event (October 15th, 2010) (M. Combs, personal communication, June 9, 2020).

I thought that alone was such a great achievement until she said that she is now a monthly writer for the same magazine!!

I was also surprised to hear that she is a member and past Co-Chair of the Longwood University Recreation Alumni Practitioner Advisory Council as well as a member of the Virginia State Therapeutic Recreation Association. She states:

As I’ve already shared with you, it’s a “small world” when it comes to our profession and I feel that it’s so important to stay connected with other RT professionals even after you’re no longer working together (M. Combs, personal communication, June 9 2020).

She stays connected through monthly recreation therapy meetings, special events, e-mails, and phone calls!

What is the most impressive thing you learned about your mentor?

Mariellen truly cares about her clients and her role as a Recreation Therapist. She’s a hard worker and you can tell she puts in a lot of her time and effort into her work. I am very impressed by how much she cares for her staff and pushes them to challenge themselves and get more involved! She has encouraged them to submit their writings to the Creative Forecasting magazine. Small actions like this absolutely make a difference and create a ripple effect. When someone believes in you and encourages you to be the best person you can be then you then try to be that person to others. I believe that Mariellen’s kindness and dedication to her profession has impacted much more than just her clients and that to me is beyond impressive!

After reviewing and reflecting on your conversation with your mentor, what greater insights have you gained about yourself, your perception of this internship and your mentor?

Since being in the program I’ve learned how much work goes into being a Recreation Therapist, but after interviewing my mentor I realized that you have the opportunity to do so much more. I realized that it’s the little things that can make you an even better Recreation Therapist. Something as simple as becoming a member of VASTRA can lead to a plethora of opportunities to learn or to teach others. My mentor made sure to emphasize the importance of staying connected to other Recreation Therapists because there is always something new to be learned or to be shared. It’s the small acts that can lead to a big difference in how we carry ourselves as Recreation Therapists, as allow us to be the best that we can possibly be for our clients.

Reference:

Miller, J. (2018. June 4). 25 questions to ask a mentor. Top tips and news on mentors. https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/25-questions-to-ask-a-mentor

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