I Am a Mentor Day – January 7, 2025

History of I Am a Mentor Day

Mentors have co-existed in our society since ancient times. They have existed in the form of our parents, teachers, friends, or someone we feel comfortable around. Comfortable enough that we share our problems with them and expect them to guide us. They guide us, inspire us, and make us feel better and hopeful that things will eventually work out. Generally, parents are excluded from the list of people who can become mentors and that is mostly because it is their duty to guide their children, and they are always doing this already. A mentor, according to largely accepted standards, is someone outside the immediate family who listens to you. They then make you aware of your inner strengths and nurture you towards success.

History has countless examples of mentors who became famous. Aristotle is a prime example, he was the mentor of Alexander the Great. Steve Jobs was a mentor to many, Warren Buffett has been a phenomenal business mentor for businessmen and entrepreneurs. In Christian texts, David was a mentor to Solomon, the wisest person ever. In Islamic texts, we have the famous examples of Tabrez being a mentor to Rumi. All these notable people have played their part as mentors who raised pupils even better than them. As Master Yoda once said, “we are what they grow beyond”. It is a difficult concept to grasp at first, but the moment one begins to understand this, it goes deeper. A mentor is supposed to be the guiding hand in times of darkness or hopelessness. These people were hard to find, and those who found such mentors were definitely lucky. Today, when there are almost infinite possibilities and opportunities, there is a lot of confusion which causes sadness when young people do not know what to do. Recently, social scientists have also raised a big issue that there is a huge generation gap today. Teenagers who are about to graduate from high school or are in their final years often find themselves misunderstood. This misunderstanding leads them to make wrong decisions which can potentially ruin their future.

To bridge this gap, and help the young generation at an emotional level, where they feel welcomed, understood, appreciated, and secure is crucial. This is where the organization MENTOR came into existence in 1990 with the sole purpose of mentoring young people. With their vision and mission properly aligned, they introduced National Mentoring Month in 2002 which comprises many standalone one-day events; I Am a Mentor Day is one of them. This day encourages people to step ahead and use their experience and maturity to guide the immature and inexperienced.