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Ian Olmedo

English 1302-208

Dr. Kevin Lindberg

8 Feb. 2024

Is Having A Mentor Better Than Going To School?

"Benefits of Mentoring for Young People." Youth.gov,

youth.gov/youth-topics/mentoring/benefits-mentoring-young-people#:~:text=Mentoring

%20has%20also%20been%20linked,Moore%2C%20%26%20Hair%2C%202002.

Blakely’s article investigated the effects of mentors on students. While we are at the

University, finding out how events on minds keep students in school and successful can be

critical- creating relationships with parents, teachers, and peers. Growing and empowering

student’s mindset. Mentors can help surpass and overcome difficulties that are approaching in

life.

This article is significant in my research because it not only speaks about one side of my

research but how both of them coexisting amongst each other leads to more significant growth

and success. A student who is able to obtain a mentor will have a higher chance at making

positive, impactful decisions while staying away from influences that can pull students like me

away from success, like drugs and alcohol. The same affects on confidence, motivation, and

lifestyle. Someone with a mentor will find an easier time through the process because following

is always easier than being alone. This article also touched on topics that can strengthen my

argument, such as having someone to teach me and guide me in creating a business. With
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assistance, I will be less likely to have negative social emotions. Finding someone who has gone

through the same situation or someone who can relate to what I am going through can be a sense

of relief.

While this article may be short, it has many references to where Blakely got her

information. This article will strengthen my claim about why having a mentor can be a crucial

decision with positive outcomes, even starting at a young age.

Eesley, Chuck and Wang, Yanbo. “The Effects of Mentoring in Entrepreneurial Career Choice.”

The Coleman Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership, 2014.

https://funginstitute.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Chuck_Eesley_Paper1.pdf

This article went into depth on randomized selected testing and was able to find that

having a mentor leads to more success and a smoother path to success as opposed to the pathway

of being taught. How much did a mentor help a teacher in entrepreneurship?

This article is the most in-depth article I found on my topic, with a near-perfect

representation of each instance and the reason someone would have a mentor or go to school and

learn about entrepreneurship. Eesley and Wang did extensive research and testing to find that

having a mentor who has succeeded as an entrepreneur can greatly increase my advantage over

others who have not had the ability to find a mentor. People who have chosen to go to school in

hopes of finding a way to success. This research has shown the numbers behind many students

and mentees who have reached their goals, how they got through the process, and the level of

difficulty they reached to obtain their goals. Even going to the lengths of finding if
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entrepreneurship runs in the family, such as the drive to be an entrepreneur or the growth into

becoming an entrepreneur. People are born into entrepreneurship, and people grow up

surrounded by it (14). Having parents, family, and/or coworkers who can guide me through my

entrepreneurial journey will greatly increase my chances of creating a successful business.

This writing will drastically push my decisions as to whether getting a mentor or going to

school is a better option. This article is well-developed and will be utilized to strengthen my

argument on my writing with numbers and research to support my choices.

Gupta, Sakshi. “Mentoring vs Teaching – Which Learning Method Should You Choose?” Spring

Board. 2021. https://www.springboard.com/blog/career-advice/teaching-vs-mentoring/

Gupta’s article entails both the cost of teaching and mentoring. Teaching is the giving

approach, while mentoring is the sharing approach to learning. This is a new aspect and can be

decided by the person who is willing to learn. How would I benefit from either one?

Gupta’s article allows me to be informed about the differences between teaching and

mentoring and how it can affect the learner. Teaching is a way of informing someone about all

the opportunities at hand and ways to make important decisions while creating a business.

Mentoring is being able to represent the work and struggle that I may encounter. The mentor can

provide lifelong knowledge in any field, not just in business. While having a good teacher can be

a step in the right direction, having a mentor is like being given a road that I can follow.

I will be able to use Gupta’s article to support my knowledge of how having a mentor

differs from having a teacher. Defining the roles that a mentor has over teachers and how the

teacher can well inform me about an experience I may go through but can not show me how to

approach this experience.

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Parmar, Parina. “5 Differences Between Mentoring and Teaching.” ClassPlus Growth Lab.

2022.https://classplusapp.com/growth/5-differences-between-mentoring-and-teaching/

Parmar highlights the advantages and disadvantages of being a teacher or mentor. While

teachers meet criteria and standards, a mentor is able to venture off track with the mentee in

order to develop one’s understanding of a topic.

Parmar’s article can help me in my writing by including his aspects on how a mentor can

be someone who I would look up to, it can help to have a mentor who is close to me. A mentor

whom I would be able to trust and communicate with when necessary. Someone with whom I

can maintain that long-term relationship and who is willing to help and show me the right path.

One major aspect that Parmar chose to include that I believe can help my stance on how having a

mentor can improve my success, would be when Parmar mentioned that mentors will guide me

through something that I am interested in and something they love; on the other hand, a teacher

can just be teaching me because regardless of if they love the topic or not they know it so they

can teach it. There is a defined line made when I talk about money being the motivator, teachers

can teach anything, while a mentor will guide me through what they love. Having that

connection/ relationship with a mentor and being able to contact them at any point in time is

superior to the time I would be able to contact a teacher.

Parmar’s article will assist me in strengthening my writing and knowledge of how a

mentor can flow with the mentee more than the teacher can manipulate the lesson for the student.

From relations, time, and effort. A mentor can usially be more flexible in any instance than a

teacher can.
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Smith, Brendan. “The lifelong benefits of mentoring.” grand PSYCH Magazine.

2014.https://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2014/11/mentoring-benefits

Smith’s article talks about the benefits of mentoring, and how students with mentors tend

to be more proactive with their studies. Joining the two choices of teaching and mentoring.

Students who had mentors tend to be more satisfied with their academic results. Smith continues

talking about how to set professional boundaries with a mentor and what being with a mentor

will take.

With Smith’s article, I will be able to include how whether I am learning from a teacher

or a mentor, there are still rules and boundaries to follow. These rules are more ethics-based and

can vary from one to the other. Such as times to communicate with them, as discussed in a

precious source, I can not message a teacher at any time expecting a response, while a mentor

will most likely be able to assist me with questions or in-person situations when the time is right.

A great topic that Smith includes is Todd Avellar, who was a peer mentor for incoming freshmen

at a University. This is not only something that I am able to relate to but to see and hear about the

success stories that a peer mentor can affect the growth of first-time freshmen who are in

unfamiliar situations moving from high school into a huge campus full of people from all

backgrounds and ages.

Smith’s work will strengthen any argument carrying the case that Mentors help students

and mentors can better acclimate the mentee to the situation at hand. I will utilize Smith’s work

and sources to help support my claim in my writing throughout the process. Being able to

connect thought to paper but also paper to experience.

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