So you wanna be a Mentor?
Glossary:
Mentor: A more experienced/knowledgeable White Tower member who acts as a guide to new members. Also known as minta, mintor.
Mentee: the opposite of mentor – somebody who has asked for and has received a mentor.
Also known as mintie, minty, mintikins.
Mentors
A mentor is an older and more knowledgeable (we’d hope *g*) White Tower member who is assigned to you (only because they volunteered for it, mind you) when you first join the White Tower. Your mentor should be around at least a few times a week to chat with you, answer any questions you might have about earning points, being raised, and in general how the White Tower
Organization works. Do not assign yourself a mentor or ask someone you have met and liked to be your mentor. That is my job! ;)
Your mentor is one of the people you will probably get to know best, since you are relying on them for help getting settled into the Tower. I am always available to help anybody who needs it, of course, but your mentor can usually deal with a lot of little issues that come up. That gives me more time to add points to the novice book and so on *sly wink*
The idea of a mentor is that they will not only be a guide and a source of information, but also a friend. The ideal situation is where you end up really good friends with your mentor, and the friendship lasts beyond your first few weeks at the Tower.
Expectations
Would-be mentors – the job is not that demanding! Exchange some emails with your mentee each week, get on ICQ to chat, say hi on the boards. It does not take a lot of effort. Some of you do much more than just the basics with your mentees, I know, but above are the guidelines for what I expect from you on a basic level.
Mentees – you are expected to show respect to your mentor, that’s all *g* Feel free to ask any questions of them, because that is what they are there for (amongst other things, i.e. friendship).
Matches gone sour
I do my best to match you up with people I think will suit you, whether you are a mentor or a mentee. If an aspirant mentions that she is thinking of going Blue, I leap at the chance to assign a Blue mentor. Sometimes there is somebody from a different Ajah who seems better suited to a particular aspirant, so I match them up instead.
While I do my best, my efforts don’t always pay off. *g* Mentees – if you have problems with your mentor (whether it’s a problem of inactivity or something else) come to me and let me know. Likewise,
mentors whose mentees are inactive or otherwise problematic should email me about it and the problem will be dealt with.
So....want a mentor or mentee?