Celebrate Your Special Mentor

Celebrate Your Special Mentor

It is probably safe to say many of us had the good fortune to be guided and supported by someone we considered to be extraordinary someone who took the time to mentor, encourage, and challenge us to be our best, to love us just the way God made us, showed us compassion and saw the potential in us making a lasting impact on our lives—someone other than our parents.

There are numerous worthwhile Filipino organizations on Maui offering scholarship grants annually to deserving Filipino graduates and I applaud them for their consistent efforts. Equally important, I encourage these organizations to seriously consider developing mentorship programs for our aspiring Filipino youth to become our future community leaders.

The way to begin the mentoring process is to look around at the activities involving our youth and discover the Filipino participants. These are the youngsters whose families are committed to their early development, and who are willing to invest time, energy, and resources to ensure their bright futures. Among these youth will be the emerging future leaders, who will welcome the guidance, support, and benefits of a special mentor. For example, the Maui Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, now approaching its 20-year anniversary, is an organization with Filipino youth leaders among their musicians. If you enjoy string ensembles, their winter concert will be on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 5:30 p.m., at Grace Bible Church Maui, 635 Hina Avenue, in Kahului. The music is guaranteed to enhance your holidays!

I urge our Filipino organizations to invite, encourage, and maybe even inspire, these youths to become their leaders, to have them walk alongside their experienced leaders who can guide them in a way to promote future success.

Sometimes Filipino community organizations have the tendency to keep the status quo—with the fear of losing something we have worked hard to achieve in the past, perhaps a greater fear of losing our relevance and influence. Our relevance should not be keeping and maintaining our leadership roles but instead should focus on encouraging and supporting our next generation of young leaders.

For many of us who held leadership roles in the past, we should now channel our purpose and influence as mentors for our upcoming leaders. We need to trust our youth leaders to move forward into the future and meet today’s challenges, as the many that will appear in the days ahead. This is their time to shine. Let us make them our priority.

Here are some key reasons a mentor is important and a critical component for shaping the future of our young leaders. According to experts on this subject, these are a few ideas to consider when we think about why mentorship is important:

• Mentors support growth, encourage professional and personal development, and can help in setting goals.

• Mentors can provide feedback to help mentees avoid mistakes and achieve their desired goals.

• Mentors serve as a source of knowledge and wisdom. They provide insights and information enabling mentees to succeed.

• Mentors can assist in setting personal and professional development goals.

• Mentors can maintain accountability and offer encouragement.

• Mentors are willing to listen—a sounding board for ideas, and serve as a trusted ally which represents a core element of mentoring relationships.

• Mentors have relevant experiences and can offer constructive feedback.

• Mentors can make introductions to people who can be helpful in a mentee’s chosen career.

• Mentorship complements other development processes, like teaching to support mentees in developing knowledge and skills.

• Mentorship can provide the guidance, support, and insights needed to achieve personal goals and can also help to build confidence and self-esteem.

• Mentorship can help recognize talents and skills in individuals they may not realize they have.

If someone made a lasting impact in your life, celebrate them and make them feel they are special, and appreciated and their efforts helped to shape you into the person you are today. Often the simple, caring and kind gestures from you will mean more to them. To celebrate that incredibly special person who mentored you and made an impact on your life, here are some ideas for you to consider:

• Celebrate the legacy of your mentor by being a mentor to someone who will carry the torch forward that will bring honor to our culture.

• Write a special heartfelt letter—the power of kind words cannot be underestimated. By taking the time to do a handwritten letter is even more special in this digital age. Writing can help convey feelings and emotions that are sometimes difficult to express when speaking directly. Take the opportunity to share memories and let them know how much they mean to you.

• Donate in their name to worthy causes they are passionate about.

• Visit (when you can) that special person and show them how special they are in your life.

To all who have taken the time to be mentors, on behalf of the Fil-Am Voice, I want to express our heartfelt appreciation and gratitude for guiding many of us to be a better community member.

You have been a guiding light giving us confidence and purpose.
October is Filipino-American History Month and what better way to celebrate than by being a mentor? Maraming Salamat Po!

Mentorship affects the future of young people in the most positive way. A guided youth is one who will safely achieve their goals with the least amount of wasted effort. Image: Designed by Freepik