MENTOR MOMENT
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS TM SHREYA KANABAR | AREA P1 DIRECTOR
The cycle of learning and relearning keeps going on in life and also in Toastmasters. Mentors play a vital role in this cycle, due to which I have seen magic happening ever since I joined. I’ve had some magical experiences and I call them Magical Mentoring Moments. In those moments my mentors or rather, magicians, inspired me with their powerful words and helped me evolve exponentially, thus creating magic. Once, when I was scared to be a Table Topics speaker, one of them said “If you can think it you can do it” - those words rekindled my confidence. Next, when I could not perform well in evaluations and I gave up the idea of being an evaluator, one of them said “Challenge yourself and face your fears” which gave me comfort and that’s when the magic started to happen. They made me feel so comfortable that I could go to them and I would always receive my magical answers. When I was unsure whether to take the role of the club President, I received another magical moment when one of them said: “Leaders take initiative and they do it with commitment and responsibility.” That inspired me to take one more step into leadership. Just like a magician pulls out a rabbit from a hat, they brought out the good qualities and also the flaws in me which I could work on with their help.
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I have been mentored and helped by so many magicians that mentioning their names here will be a big list. But I really thank them from bottom of my heart. As I progressed as a mentee, my magicians suggested that I step to the other side and share what I had experienced and learned. It was time for me to become a magician for someone else. One of my mentees wanted to complete his CC soon but was not sure if he could do so without compromising on the quality of the speeches. I assured him of my support and advised that he needed to plan his slots and work on his speeches whenever possible. When he completed his CC it reminded me of this quote which one of my magicians believes in “I become successful when I help you become successful.” That feeling of happiness when my mentees win awards is inexpressible. Over time, the bond I developed with mentors and mentees feels like winning a bonanza as I experience learning from both sides. I still continue to experience these magical moments for every one has some quality which I wish to imbibe in myself. I wish to keep enlightening and experiencing the best of both worlds. Edited by Karan, compiled by Ruchika
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