Article by Reeta Francis

A mentor can have a profound impact on a person’s life.  Where would the Karate Kid be without the tutelage of Mr. Miyagi? Where would Luke Skywalker be without Obi-Wan? Classic movie references aside, many of history’s most influential people blossomed under the mentorship of those who came before them. Classical musician Johann Christian Bach mentored Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Aristotle mentored Alexander the Great, Walter Cronkite mentored Dan Rather and Maya Angelou mentored Oprah Winfrey. Mentors have played a pivotal role in shaping our current society.

Within the QUEST Honors Program, mentors act as a link between the newest Cohort of QUEST students and the rest of the QUEST community. QUEST juniors and seniors who decide to become mentors embark on a semester long experience.  This experience starts in August before QUEST camp when mentors are assigned their teams and goes through December. In addition to attending team meetings, mentors also attend class, a Practicum in Team Management, where they learn about managing team conflicts and general team dynamics. Mentors provide guidance and information to the newest QUESTers while gaining an entirely new prospective on team dynamics as an active but impartial third party.

Brittany Barnaba, a QUEST mentor to Team Peloton from Cohort 18, reflected on her past experience as a mentor:  “It was so much fun to watch my team grow, to see things from another side, and to learn about team dynamics in a way I understood because I went through the same experience. As mentors, we influenced the Cohort below us and contributed to their 190 experience.” The 190 experience shared between mentor and mentees is symbiotic; one side gains guidance and the other gains a new perspective on teams.