Show Notes

Hello and welcome to another episode of the smart student podcast. Once again, I’m your host, Dr. Ehoneah Obed. And in today’s episode, I am talking about the reason why you need a mentor.

So whether you like it or not every smart student needs a mentor. Yes, take it from me that every smart student needs a mentor. So if you have gone through school without a mentor, then this is the time to rethink it.  And in this episode, I am going to share with you the reason why you need a mentor. 

When I refer to a mentor,  I am referring to anybody at all that you can talk to that can share some insight with you about your academics, how to succeed academically. or can share with you some secrets in the particular level that you find yourself.

So in choosing an academic mentor for that matter you need to choose someone who has been where you are before. What I am trying to say is that you are not going to choose somebody who is in the same class with you as your mentor neither are you necessarily going to choose someone outside the program that you are studying. 

If you want to choose the right kind of mentor that is still referring to an academic mentor then you have to choose someone who is probably a senior colleague of yours who read or read the same program that you are currently reading. 

Here are the reasons why you need a mentor. When I went to the university actually, It was very unfortunate that I did not know anybody in my faculty and  I didn’t know anybody who was reading the Doctor of Pharmacy Program at the time and hence I was on my own for a long time.

It was right before the mid-semester examination I came across someone that I knew was actually in the faculty.  And that is how a mentorship relationship began.

What they do for you is that, since they have been where you are now before,  they know the secrets. Some of them did things that helped them succeed and some also did things that did not go well for them or that affected them negatively. 

So as you get any of these people, having a mentor in this case when I refer to a mentor, it could be a former mentorship program. Some faculty or some schools have established a former mentorship program where they pair you with a senior colleague. 

But whether it is a former or an informal one. You talking to the person and not necessarily establishing it on paper that you are my mentor and I am your mentee. It could be your own friend who is actually ahead of you.  But in your mind, you have to see it as some sort of mentorship.  And these are people that you can walk up to at any point in time to listen to the secrets that they have to share with you. 

The reason why you need a mentor  is that:

The mentor should have secrets to share with you.  And the secret should be centered on two things. That is if the person is a very good student or the person is one who is doing very well academically. Then you want to know what their secrets to their academic excellence are.

So what is making them succeed academically?  Let them share that secret with you and if however, your mentor is one person who is not doing so well in terms of the academic then you want to find out why they are not doing well. 

Some people will give you the advice that you should always choose a mentor who is academically stable, a mentor who is doing so well. Alright but I have a counter view on this. What I advise is that whoever you are choosing should have some secret to share with you and the secret could be secrets towards success or secret towards failures. 

So those who are not doing well, if you have any of them in your mentors or your list of mentors. Then you are going to listen to them and find out what they did that is not making them succeed so that you do not repeat that same mistake.  However for those of them who did things and they are succeeding, you find out what made them successful so that you can also replicate it to become successful. 

Another reason why you need a Mentor is; a mentor is someone that you can ask questions.  So anytime you have any questions bothering you.  You should have somebody that you can walk up to ask those questions. 

And another more important reason why I found it necessary especially when I was in the university was that most of the questions that we used to solve or most of the exams that we used to write were questions that were repeated. The lectures hardly had time to set new questions all over again. 

 Meaning those in their senior years or those in the years ahead of us probably had a similar question during their time. And you know some people are very smart, some have a retentive memory. So they’re able to recall the questions that they were asked. 

So if you have a mentor of that sort you can go and find out.  So for this particular course what do you remember or how should I even prepare for the exams.  You know the lectures or the teachers have their own way of setting questions or a specific side that they pick their questions from.  

For instance, they could be a particular lecturer who has this website where he picks his questions from and you may not know.  

But when you talk to your mentors or any other person who is ahead of you, they may be able to tell you that from the experience they realize that this teacher takes his questions from this particular website. Therefore go to that website.

This is actually from my personal experience and for the number of students that I have mentored over the years. 

What I used to do as a mentor was that, in every year that I went to I make sure I captured and stored most of the questions and study materials are given to us so that I can pass them on to my mentees. I know a lot of people do similar things. 

So you need a mentor in order to have access to insight into how to succeed in the particular semester or year that you find yourself. One more important thing that I have already mentioned is that mentors would be able to give you study materials. 

So if it past questions that you want they should be able to give you. They should be able to point you in the right direction or they should be able to show you where you can get those materials.  

For instance, even if your mentor him or herself does not have the material, should be able to direct you or should be able to talk to some of his colleagues who can have it or get it for you. 

These are more important reasons why you need a mentor. I want to stress on it again it shouldn’t necessarily be a former mentorship relationship. 

If you are a shy person or you are one who does not know anybody in the faculty or in the academic environment that you find yourself here is an opportunity to find anybody at all who is ahead of you but before you choose a particular person as your mentor do some kind of an underground research about the person to know their status whether you want to learn more of their failures or more of their success.

 Whatever it is find out about somebody or get in touch with somebody, talk to them, use them and make them your mentor so that you can ask for information. You need the right information at the right time to succeed. 

You know I told you about my first year before mid-semester, I was studying everything. I just did not know exactly what to do. 

The same way I used to study in the senior high school that was how I was studying but unfortunately my results interns of the quizzes that we were writing were not very good. Until 

I met the mentor that I referred to in this particular episode. Where she was able to tell me how the questions are set, where they set the question, how I am supposed to study, then the whole game change for me. 

I believe that for you to come out as a successful smart student, this is one thing that you have to pay heed to. Get yourself a mentor, talk to them when you need to,  find out all the secrets, talk to as many people as possible. 

It does not just have to be one mentor you can talk to as many people as possible but be wise about it and I know that you succeed in this regard. 

Thank you for listening to this episode and I’ll see you in the next episode.

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