All the great men in history had a mentor behind them. For example, the mentor of Plato, a great philosopher, was Socrates, and that of Helen Keller, who had a visual disability but who nonetheless achieved much, was Sullivan. Indeed, getting advice from one's mentor will have a good impact on a person's life.
Meet the Lighthouse of Your Life for the First Time
The movie <Good Will Hunting>, which was released in 1997, is a humanist movie. In the movie, Sean Maguire helps Will Hunting discover the meaning of his life by giving him valuable advice. Will Hunting has not been interrupted by anyone for 20 years. He has a lowly job, like his working-class friend who is living in the slum area in southern Boston. He thus cannot go to the university, except to do cleaning chores at MIT. Curiously, he is good at solving math problems that are too difficult even for Nobel-Prize-winning professors to solve. One day, however, to escape from imprisonment due to assault, he agrees to study mathematics under the supervision of MIT professor Gerald Lambeau, and to see the therapist Sean Maguire, who eventually becomes his mentor. Sean Maguire teaches Will Hunting the wisdom that he needs to succeed in life. Will Hunting, who has since lived with his bad memories of his past, and with his past pains, opens his mind, thanks to Sean Maguire, and begins a new life. Sean Maguire is a true mentor because he sincerely consoles Will Hunting, telling him, "It's not your fault."
In our society today, mentoring is more important than ever. With the change of times, diverse mentoring is needed, like mentoring for adolescents, disabled people, and housewives. It is very effective because it gives substantive advice. ST introduces representative mentoring programs.
Ancient and Present Mentors
The origin of mentors was recorded by Homer in his ancient Greek myth <Odyssey>. In 1250 B.C., Odysseus, the king of ancient Greece, left to wage war against Troy for 10 years. Thus, Odysseus had to entrust his son to his friend, Mentor. Odysseus asked Mentor to teach his son how to become a great ruler and how to protect his kingdom. For 10 years, Mentor served as a friend, teacher, advisor, and father to the prince. Thus, a mentor can be defined as one who leads another person through wisdom and truth, a guide for life, and a role model thereafter. In business, a mentor is a great leader, a good leader of life. Thus, mentors help new employees adapt to their new surroundings. Also, mentors are those who have had a breadth of experience compared to the ones they are guiding, and who can help other people realize their potentials. In addition, they help their mentees actualize their (the mentees') vision, and suggest challenges that the latter can embrace. A mentor can be a university professor, a sports coach, or a martial arts master. The opposite of a mentor is a mentee or protege.
Mentoring for University Students, CEO Mentoring
As it is important for university students to get a job, they desperately need mentors, who will give them advice about life and employment. Korea Student Aid Foundation came up with a major-company-CEO mentor appointment program through the Korea Talented-Persons Mentoring Network. It helps university students obtain vital knowledge and information by connecting to a CEO mentor. For the appointment of mentors, Korea Student Aid Foundation appoints as mentors 100 people who are holding positions of leadership. The Korea Talented-Persons Mentoring Network consists of several big-name mentors, such as Hana Finance Vice President Kim Seong-u, Home Plus President Lee Seoung-hwan, and KAIST President Seo Nam-pyo. The mentors listen to the problems of their mentees, consisting of university students, and hold consultations with them twice a month. In his blog (http://www.choidongju.com), President Choi Dong-ju of Hyundai Industry Development said, "I'm very pleased to help young people gain pure energy and light."
Mentoring for North Korean Defectors
The number of North Korean defectors in South Korea increased from 538 in 2001 to 3,129 in 2010, and increases every year. It has come to a point when the North Korean defectors already have to adapt to the South Korean society and to overcome the cultural difference between the two Koreas. Thus, mentoring programs for North Korean defectors are currently being operated to cope with the situation on a national scale. One of such mentoring programs is 'Kyungki-do Mentoring for North Korean Defectors.' Kyungki-do held the North Korean Defectors Success Vision Camp to show support to the defectors. According to a representative of Kyungkido, "As 30% of the North Korean defectors live in Kyungkido, we are holding this camp for their stable settlement." On that day, a meeting place was prepared for the mentors and their mentees. Furthermore, Kyungki Small Business Center, composed of businesspeople who help others get a job, was invited to the event. Thus, the event helped the North Korean defectors get a job and featured an advice booth for getting a job.
Star Audition <Great Birth>
Do you know of any TV program for mentors and mentees? 'Star Audition: Great Birth' is a TV program that was born to trace the pedigree of the many audition programs that are presently being aired and that are loved by many. This program started on November 5, 2010 and ended on June 3, 2011, after Baek Chung-gang won the competition. The program was so popular that 'Star Audition: Great Birth 2' has been scheduled to begin its broadcast in August 2011. 'Star Audition: Great Birth' became even more popular when it introduced a mentoring system for people who wanted to become a singer. The mentors were the best musicians in South Korea (Kim Tae-won, Lee Eun-mi, Shin Seung-hun, Bang Shi-hyuk, and Kim Yoon-ah). Each mentor had four mentees, whom the mentors trained, after which the mentees participated in a contest and were evaluated by the mentors and viewers. In this way, the successful candidates were separated from the dropouts. Finally, Baek Chung-gang, a mentee of Kim Tae-won, won the competition. The usual audition programs involve a vocal trainer teaching the candidates, who all but live on the stage. After a performance, the candidate is advised by a panel of judges consisting of singers and the viewers. 'Star Audition: Great Birth' introduced the mentoring system, and the mentees delivered good performances, doing their best through their respective mentors' direct guidance. The mentees also established a better foothold on becoming a good singer.
Mentoring Activity in the University
There are university mentors even for middle or high school students. As university students have advantages over middle or high school students because they have already gone through the middle or high school levels, the former give practical advice to the latter. There are many university intercollegiate clubs whose members want to serve as mentors. Among these is 'Dream Leader: School of Dream Trees,' which has 100 workers. High school juniors were oriented regarding the program on December 4, 2010, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It diverged from the existing cramming system of education and offered customized training programs that fit the teenagers' circumstances. For more than about eight hours, the university students became mentors; they talked with their mentees about tips for a happy campus life and eased their worries about the future. This program provided the Soongsilians with valuable time to think about their dreams and goals, based on 'My Life Treasure.' As for the high school students, while spending time with university students with different majors, they were able to find answers to their questions regarding their respective interests. One student, Lee Bo-won (Sunrin Internet High School), who participated in 'Dream Leader: School of Dream Trees,' thanked his mentor, saying, 'It's good because I used to be lazy and lost my way after taking the College Scholastic Ability Test, but now, I can lead a meaningful life and move forward towards a better direction after receiving good advice from a senior.'
At SSU, there is a mentor-mentee program operated by an LH (Korea Land & Housing Corporation) volunteer group from the Soongsil Volunteer Corps. Such LH volunteer group is providing different kinds of mentoring services, including children-head-of-household mentoring. According to a Center for Volunteer Service Support, the LH volunteer group realized that there is a need not only for the provision of housing support and of welfare services during visitation but also for an investigation into children-heads-of-household living in rented houses who are in trouble with the economic environment and who find themselves in defective family situations. At first, the volunteer group focused on isolated volunteer work among company employees, but to come up with a more sustainable and systematic program, it pushed forward with the mentoring system, which enables linking with the university student volunteers through a cooperative system. In Seoul, SSU linked with this program in April 2008. The volunteer workers carrying out mentoring tasks support long-term and continuous 1:1 individualized-instruction programs and try to develop the children's emotional stability and confidence to learn. After the mentoring activity, a system is run wherein the volunteer workers consistently look after the children by keeping a daily record. The LH volunteer group started carrying out mentoring activities in September 2009, and 15 students are currently involved in such work.
As stated above, many companies, schools, and even societies have introduced the mentoring system and are making the best use of it. It is no exaggeration to say that South Korea is currently burning with a mentor-mentee fever. Have you read the book <Growing up is Painful>? This book is on the bestseller list and is still being read by many people, especially by the 20-ish youth or university students. The book's author, Kim Nan-do, was selected as the 'Best Mentor' by the Seoul National University students. He is currently giving one of the best lectures in Seoul National University. This book introduces him as a teacher who is experiencing much happiness by sharing his knowledge, pains, dreams, and life with the youth in a campus. Also, there is a description of a 'real adult' mentor who helps his mentees reduce their trials and errors with cool-headedness and intelligence. Considered the best mentor by the students, he is telling the students to look for a good mentor. He is giving the advice that while having friends and seniors is also good, meeting and having deep conversations with big seniors like teachers and adults who have had more experience in life is better. What are your worries? Grades? Getting a job? Preparation for a civil service exam? Studying abroad? Facility of expression in English? Are you looking for a mentor who will move heaven and earth to find a solution to your troubles? Or are you looking for a mentee? Both are good because mentors and mentees can create synergy through human cooperation, dubbed 'a human raising another human.'
According to the book <Mentor: A New Leader in the Knowledge Management Times>, the mentoring activity is definitely not effective only for the mentee. The benefits that the activity will bring to the mentor and to the organization to which the mentor and mentee belong are also considerable. All those who have carried out a mentoring activity will agree that mentoring is effective for the mentee, the mentor, and the organization to which the two belong. The mentee, however, is the biggest beneficiary of a mentoring activity. The activity's effects on the mentee are improvement of the latter's study speed and maturity level. Mentoring can also help the mentee become more productive. Mentors, for their part, can expect to have the benefit of developing various coaching skills. Finally, the organization to which both the mentor and mentee belong will reap the benefits of developing various human resources, cultural transformation, and establishment and implementation of succession planning. As the effects of mentoring activities are great, there are precautionary measures that must be taken and simple rules that must be observed when carrying out mentoring activities. First, it is important for the mentor and mentee to know as much about each other as possible in advance. Second, the two must be polite and respectful to each other. A decent appearance is also needed. During the mentoring activity, the conversation skills of the mentor and mentee are very important. Basically, respect, sincerity, sympathy, and acceptance are needed. Mentors should keep their promises to their mentees and should not force their ideas or ideologies on them. Keeping a secret is also demanded. After a mentoring activity, it is good to check the activity or records, and to ask for feedback from the mentee. Are you eager to have a mentor? Are you looking for a mentee? If you are well informed of these things, you can be an excellent mentor or mentee.
Kim Dan-bee (ST Reporter)
kdb951@ssu.ac.kr
Kim Ho-yeon (ST Reporter)
20101101@ssu.ac.kr
