Teacher Mentor Guide

This is to every mentor out there…

When I was very young, my IQ was tested, my parents were called to my school and I was quietly placed in an enrichment program. One of the professionals we met with was a writer, back in the days of typewriters, boxes of Ticonderoga pencils and stacks and stacks of yellow legal pads. That man talked about freeing your mind and harnessing the power of your own imagination to create. I remember he told us that we needed to keep a pen and paper with us at all times to record a good idea. He said he even kept a flashlight with his pad and pen on the nightstand, within reach, every single night… so when an idea landed in his mind before sleeping, he could rouse just enough to turn on the flashlight and write it down, a little treasure to mine the next day. Record your ideas immediately, he said, because they’ll appear out of nowhere and come to you when you aren’t looking for them. I never forgot that. I still develop spots when I’m walking, dictate tag lines standing at a urinal, and yell out ideas to Siri in the black of night when one unexpectedly graces me with its presence. You have no idea how much work I’ve conceived and thankfully could recall, flesh out and present to a client because of what you taught my little sponge of a grade school self who never dreamed he’d grow up to write. So I salute you here, because I’m sure you’ve passed by now. You changed my career, my success, my life. And I salute everyone who gives of their time and talent to mentor a young mind. You’ll probably never know the gifts you’ve given.