The Value of Being a Mentor and Mentee

The Value of Being a Mentor and Mentee The University of Illinois  provides  an experience like no other. There are tons of resources here that are willing to help you with anything you need. However, sometimes I find that those who are the most resourceful are my  fellow students. Im on the executive board of the American Advertising Federation, which is the local student advertising club. Its a 500+ member club, which can be a really intimidating number and someone can get lost inside a club with that many members. But, this club is not some ordinary club. The club is home to 11 committees and one of those include the Member Relations Committee. This committee has the mission to help every member feel at home in the club. They set up the mentor/mentee program, and its incredibly successful. There are over 130 people participating in the program this semester! Im currently a mentor in the program and Im having a ton of fun with it. I have two freshman mentees who are interested in finding their fit in the program. I routinely catch up with them for coffee at Starbucks. But more than a mentor, Ive become friends with my two mentees. The Member Relations Committee plans great events for us. We even have a cool speed-dating event coming up where we get to meet the other mentor/mentee pairs, so its another great opportunity to make friends and connect with people who have similar interests. Its important that you find someone you can look up to and get advice from no matter what  club or organization youre a part of. As people get older, they want to give back so its important to take advantage of that and remember that its okay to ask for help and advice because Illini are life-long learners. Be a mentee at Illinois and one day youll be mentoring future Illini! Daniel Class of 2018 I’m an Advertising major in the College of Media. I’m from a northwest suburb of Chicago called Buffalo Grove. I chose Illinois because it was the first university in the entire world to offer an Advertising major, which is pretty cool!