Mentors Serve Who/Whom?

Mentoring, like teaching, is an honorable activity and many of us are called to one or both because we believe we can help, and we can make a difference in someone’s life by doing so. I taught at the community college level (evenings and Saturday mornings) for 16 years because I not only loved teaching, but I wanted to give back to those who were motivated enough to go to school at night and those who didn’t have the money to pay tuition at four-year colleges.

Yes, I taught those who had problems with English as their second language, who needed to use dictionaries in their native language while taking tests and those we would call the “underclass” or “underprivileged.” And, in addition to that, I wanted to be a “success story” for all of them.

Although it might sound quite pretentious, I do consider myself a success story because of the circumstances of both my birth and my perseverance toward the goal that took more decades to achieve then I want to think. I wanted my students, many of whom had worked so hard during the day and dragged themselves to school at night until 10 PM when they would go home, to be inspired. I wanted to give them the spark of hope that would keep them going on and, in all honesty, I truly believed that I achieved that goal.

Teaching at night, as an adjunct, is a struggle for anyone who chooses that path. The struggle is…