NACE Award Winners 2023: Mentor of the Year

Speaker: Samara Reynolds, Director of VCU Career Services, Virginia Commonwealth University

Samara Reynolds: I decided to become a mentor with NACE specifically because I have enjoyed growing in the field of career development, of getting to know other professionals, and learning from other professionals. And as I have moved into the role of Director of Career Services at a few different campuses now, I realized I might have something to give back to professionals who might be on the pathway to directorship or may well want and need to continue growing within the profession in whatever way makes sense to them. So, it was something that I signed up for and was excited to be matched with two great mentees. And it's been a wonderful experience. But benefiting from mentorship from others and feeling like I might have something to share were major motivators.

Samara Reynolds: I have seen incredible value in being a mentor. When I think about those that I have engaged in formal mentoring with, it was really nice for them to have, have a, someone who could be an unbiased source of support to be a listening ear, someone who could ask challenging questions or offer support and different perspective. So that as they move through their career path, whether that's with a specific organization or across different organizations, that they knew that there was somebody in their corner who could provide that support. So for me, I liked getting to be that person. Both because I know I've enjoyed having those mentorship relationships in my life and also just getting to see the individuals I work with grow and advance, and move towards alignment with their own values over time has been really rewarding.

Samara Reynolds: Something that has surprised me about being a mentor is just how much your own lived experience and just you being an, an empathetic and willing participant in that relationship can mean to somebody else. I think oftentimes we feel like if we are going to mentor someone, we have to be uh fully baked, fully realized in, in who we are and our own career path we have to reach the pinnacle to have something to give back when really there's, there's something that we can offer at every stage. Even if it's peer to peer mentorship and saying, yes, I've been in that, in that situation, or I understand that, I'm going through something similar. So for me, knowing that you can be a mentor and offer a mentorship, even for a season of somebody's career, or life, based on just who you are now, that there's something that you can offer versus having to wait until you're, you're perfect or in the later stages of your career, to be able to offer a mentorship.

Samara Reynolds: A piece of advice I would give to others considering serving as mentors beyond the fact that you have something surely to offer as a mentor at any stage of your career, it doesn't have to be only once you've been in the field for many years that you can be a great mentor. Is the idea that even if you commit to the mentor program or the mentorship, a structured way that it doesn't always have to stay that, that commitment as frequent or to be something that you're committing to lifelong. If that's not what you and the mentee are looking for or need at this particular stage. You have the ability to keep adjusting the relationship, adjusting the frequency and the ways by which you meet to make it work for both of you, so that it can be something that you both look forward to and is enriching for both of your lives while also fitting into your schedule. So if there's a desire for you to get involved with mentorship, but you're worried, you don't have the time or capacity, or that you may not be a forever match with somebody who picks you as their mentor through the program or gets matched with you. That's ok. Give it a try, and then just be honest about the ability that you have to commit and when you may need to make changes to the arrangement.