30 for 30 Countdown #10 - A little help from my friends

Where would I be without the help of those with experience?

At my job, I rely heavily on more senior associates for questions from "how do I organize this memo?" to "how do I tell a partner I think I screwed up?"

In law school, I relied on my student mentor to teach me how to write an exam.  At Disney, I relied on my boss/mentors to teach me how to handle my workload and when I should ask questions.

My whole life, I have succeeded at things because those who already knew what they were doing were willing to take the time to help me.  I have had great mentors at every stage of my life, and I know I would not be where I am without every one of them.

My first 30 years were filled with time as either a student, intern, or inexperienced employee.  Finally, I am in a position where I actually have something to offer.

Carolina, the sister of a friend, is a first year law student.  She's super smart, super hard-working, and really fun to be around.  So, when she asked for some advice about law school in general, I jumped at the chance to mentor her.

Today we had our first real mentoring session.  We went over legal research and writing as well as other law school issues.  I recall always being so thankful that someone would take the time to sit down and discuss my problems with me.  Today I realized, I'm just as thankful to have someone ask me questions and listen to my advice!

I definitely think we make a good mentor/mentee pair, and I hope she feels the same.  For my next 30 years, I think it is important to seek out opportunities to mentor those who are in positions that I am familiar with.  Now, I just have to find someone to mentor me on how to be a mentor!  Oy!