Participating in a mentorship program as a high school student can truly be one of the most impactful experiences during your teenage years. Mentorship isn't simply a resume building exercise or a checkbox on college applications, rather it's a robust means for constructing and finding confidence in your personal and professional identity with support from someone who has been a former version of you. A great mentor is there with perspective, guidance and encouragement often at just the right time. The real magic happens when you, the mentee, lean into the process and demonstrate engagement.
Many students who enter mentorship programs do so without a sense of what they should be doing beyond meeting with their mentor. Mentorship is often misunderstood as a passive experience; a unilateral exchange. Mentorship is a two-way, dynamic and active exchange that relies on curiosity, preparation, and trust on both exchanges. You do not need to be perfect on your mentorship journey; but you do need to be intentional about the experience. Work through the ten strategies outlined for you below; strategies for ensuring you extract the best out of your mentorship adventure in high school from the very first conversation until your last reflection.
1. Define Your Goals Before you Begin
It is helpful to take some time to define your goals prior to meeting with your mentor. Goals can take any number of forms: learning about a particular industry, investigating a career option, improving your soft skills, receiving feedback on your college applications. By spending time considering your goals, you will be able to have a more productive and meaningful interaction with your mentor, and you will also assist your mentor in understanding how best to assist you.
You do not need to have everything sorted about what you want to do for the next ten years-mentorship is about exploring and at the same time helping you achieve a particular thing- but the more specific you can be, the more direct the conversation will be.
2. Come Prepared to Every Meeting
Take your mentorship meetings as seriously as you would during a job interview or a class presentation. This means putting together questions, providing an update, creating an agenda, if only informal.Don't take for granted that the mentor is going to do all the talking. The more you walk into the conversation ready and with more to say, the more meaningful and valuable it will be for both you and the mentor.
Being prepared and organized also shows respect for the time the mentor has volunteered. Mentors are typically busy practitioners who choose to volunteer because they want to help students like you. When you demonstrate that you think purposefully about the meeting time, the mentor is much more likely to provide compelling direction about your thinking and professional development. The meetings can go from merely solving surface-level issues, to being a meaningful and productive motivational conversation between the two of you.
3. Build a Real Relationship, Not Just a Transaction
Mentoring is not just a source of advice, it is an actual relationship. Ask your mentor multiple questions about their experiences, interests, failures, and values. Allow the conversation to go beyond guidance on your academics and career.Trusting relationships will provide you with better advice, more helpful feedback, and better support across time.
The more a mentor knows about you: who you are, what you think & believe, what you like to do, how you work, and all your "quarks", the more relevant and useful their advice will be. You'll need to feel comfortable in revealing your uncertainty, mistakes, or ignorance with a person who is in the position of being your mentor. The more you are willing to share, the more you are real and genuine. Honesty creates trust, trust leads to quality mentoring relationships that won't end when a semester or program ends.
4. Be Curious and Ask Thoughtful Questions
Curiosity propels mentorship. Don't merely rely on your mentor to inform you—bring authentic questions. Ask them about how they made tough decisions, what they wish they understood most in high school, how they make sense of setbacks when things don't go as planned, etc. The best questions rise from your sincere curiosity about the world.
By asking thoughtful questions, you amass useful information and knowledge, while at the same time, creating a more rich conversation with your mentor. Your questions will clearly flag you as engaged and ready to learn. Over time your engagement will cultivate you into an independent learner, and eventually a more decisive and confident person, skills you can exercise throughout your life regardless of the mentorship relationship.
5. Take Notes and Reflect After Each Session
Following each meeting, take 10 to 15 minutes to reflect in writing about: what you learned, what surprised you, and what actions you want to take next. Your notes will help cement the conversation in your mind and they might even provide you with a written history to revisit down the line. You'll also have something to refer to at the next meeting that will enable you to connect this meeting with the previous one and show continuity and progress.
Reflection allows for deeper learning. It changes passive listening to active transformation.When you write reflectively and document your learning and next steps, you are involved in not only recording your growth, but committing to your growth. Over the next several months, you may begin to notice how you are starting to grow, and even use this as a resource for future applications, essays, or interviews.
6. Act on Feedback and Show Progress
One of the greatest gifts you get from mentorship is getting candid feedback that will help your growth. If your mentor says, “read this book,” “practice this skill,” or “apply this strategy, ” don’t simply nod your head and forget about it. Act, and follow-up at your next meeting by sharing what came of it. This makes them feel valued, and illustrates that you are genuinely working on your growth.
Mentors love to see progress because that is what makes the whole experience rewarding for them. Even small wins like trying a new study strategy or reaching out to a contact for a potential internship opportunity is evidence of you taking action. These are the moments you are following-through, and not only are positive for you, but help the relationship and are likely to generate even more useful feedback and opportunities.
7. Explore Opportunities Together
Your mentor can open up doors to new experiences for you - internships, e-learning, passion projects, or networking. If you're excited about doing something outside of school, inquire if your mentor knows of potential paths to explore. They may even have contacts or connections that you wouldn't have had. Even engaging with a mentor in a brainstorming process could open paths you'd never have identified alone.
With this form of collaboration, you are able to shift your mentor from guide, to partner in your journey. Rather than asking for free opportunities, together you are exploring possibilities based on your interests and motivation. You also will develop experience in goal-based work, decision-making, and action-taking, which you can carry forward for many years.
8. Be Honest About What You Don’t Know
While it might feel good to pretend you know what you're doing, mentoring is really a good place to admit that you don't know. If you don't understand something, have no idea what decision to make, or just feel overwhelmed; honesty is much more useful than pretending. Your mentor wants to help you navigate your confusion - not judge you for it.
Being honest in a mentoring setting also demonstrates humility and a growth mindset - two things that mentors value. It opens up space for learning, rectifying, and support. The more honest you are, the more tailored your mentor's guidance will be to you; not to the you that you think your mentor wants you to see.
9. Keep in Touch Beyond the Program
When your formal mentorship time ends, you should not simply fade away. If you have developed a real connection, make sure to keep it alive. You can check in once in awhile to let them know what you're doing, or to ask for advice when needed or to just thank them for support and guidance. This will allow you to extend a short term engagement into a lifelong relationship!
Staying connected also builds your long-term network - there is a good chance your mentor will agree to write a letter of recommendation, will introduce you to an opportunity, or will continue to give you advice if you remain connected. You'll never know how you might cross paths in the future so it's worth keeping the relationship going. To put it simply, consider the end of the program to be the beginning of an ongoing connection.
10. Say Thank You, And Mean It
You should never overlook the importance of a genuine thank you. Your mentor offered you their time, experience, and care, which was a priceless gift - the greatest respect. A handwritten note, an email, or a quick text that reminds your mentor what you learned are all great ways to show gratitude.
Gratitude is not only good manners; it is also a way to graciously close the loop. It is a cue that you recognize the worth of what you've received, and it is something that you will carry with you. A strong thank you doesn't signify the end of the relationship; it actually is the root of one. Thank you is about creating a new foundation for the future that is born out of understanding, respect, and growth.
If you are a high school student pushing yourself to stand out in college applications, RISE Research offers a unique opportunity to work one-on-one with mentors from top universities around the world.
Through personalized guidance and independent research projects that can lead to prestigious publications, RISE Research helps you build a standout academic profile and develop skills that set you apart. With flexible program dates and global accessibility, ambitious students can apply year-round. To learn more about eligibility, costs, and how to get started, visit RISE Research’s official website and take your college preparation to the next level!
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