Dedicated to Humanity: ACREW Mentoring Experience

There lays an inevitable sense of power and happiness in living for humanity. Whether it be a charitable act of kindness, or an effort to make a change, the satisfaction that arises from intrinsic motivation has no comparison to the reward of sticks and carrots. Rewards such as money and benefits hold little value in front of internal joy and goodwill. I have always valued taking my time out for others receiving only internal peace in return, but as learning about the business world and being a mentor, I've become certain that the magic of motivation is in living for humanity.

Ever since my middle school days, I had always had a joy in helping others, doing things for strangers, and giving back to the community. Whether it be helping my elderly English teacher maintain the school garden (even though I could not stand having insects crawl over my fingers), spending hours during and after school helping my teachers win their door decorating contest, or crocheting blankets and sweaters for breast cancer patients, the internal satisfaction and peace I felt doing such activities was invaluable.

High school came around and I continued to participate and encourage my friends to join me in community beach cleanups, toys for tots, and various sorts of voluntary activities. I began to use the extra time I had tutoring my peers in algebra, or practicing basketball with the schools JROTC to make sure I can help our school gain recognition in the yearly JROTC district competition. Being actively involved in organizations such as Interact and Student Council allowed me to realize the importance of having task significance and a sense of purpose in all I do.

Coming into Texas A&M, I have been part of 2 learning communities that I greatly enjoy. I have been involved in the Regents Scholars learning community as well as ACREW (Aggie Collegiates Ready to Explore the World). My learning communities were the few places I felt extremely comfortable in due to my affable peers and my mentors. I loved having a place and people that I could come to if I have any questions and fully be able to trust . My experience with my amazing mentors encouraged me to become a mentor as well and support my mentees. After having such a good experience, I wanted the incoming lower classmen to have a memorable and positive attitude about their freshmen year experience too, so I became a mentor.

Some of the things I like about mentoring include having a group of individuals who confide in one another, can reach out to each other whenever we want, and being a personal role model who has been through my mentee's steps. I like being able to relate to my peers and letting them feel that they are not alone. Creating memories and facing struggles being a mentor and a mentee in my learning communities has caused me to love Texas A&M more and give back to the organizations that I grew from. In my mentoring experience, I've learned responsibility, patience, and the importance of being a good role model. I've learned how to take time out for others and prioritize my responsibilities. I've realized that being able to give my insights and advice to others makes me feel better knowing I can be helpful. Mentoring has taught me to see other people and understand them in their perspective. I've developed my communication skills and have created friendships that will last.

After taking my Management Organizational Design Class and hearing other mentors speak about their mentoring experience, I've realized that many individuals in our generation and the generations before us love the intrinsic rewards we receive more than the extrinsic ones. For example, in the beginning days of work and mentoring, people love the pay and the perks of being a mentor such as early registration, but as I became more actively involved, the memories I created and the respect I received from my peers was better than any of the perks. I wouldn't take anything to give up the smiles and laughters I had while rock climbing and carving pumpkins with my mentees. Even though organizing and carrying through with such events is time consuming and difficult, in the end of the day, I realized that there is a drive greater than any tangible reward; it's the joy of seeing smiles, having understanding and respectable company, being appreciated for what we do, learning and growing from new challenges, and making mistakes without the fear of being insulted.

This mentoring experience opened my eyes on how we are wired. Individuals see the basic needs of extrinsic rewards as a requirement and are disappointed without them, but the motivating aspect of any job, any task, or any action is the internal reward. My personal experience with mentoring has taught me how I can become a better manager and potentially instill mentorship programs in the companies I will work due to their numerous benefits. Mentoring will help the new hires develop and grow on the job and help the company culture grow because developing close-knit ties with mentors and mentees helps create an environment of growth and challenge. The mentors will also know the feeling of being a new hire, so they can better help the new hires meet their needs. This program will then lead to internal satisfaction and stronger organizational commitment from employees.

Similar to a workplace environment, campus activities and programs also have unveiled the importance of intrinsic rewards and the power of humanity. Why is it that thousands of Texas A&M students wake up at 7 a.m. in the morning on a Saturday to participate in the Big Event to give back to the community. We're not getting paid for it, nor are we getting any sort of incentive or credit. Rather, it is the experience of working with a group who all have the same desire of internal pride and satisfaction. God has put this bliss in giving to others and taking one's time out for reasons other than ourself. Being a mentor has enhanced my skill in communicating with new people and learning how to go above and beyond in every example, knowing that others are going to follow. Although it may be time consuming, I feel mentoring has taught me the basic principle of how people are motivated. I plan to use my mentoring experience and the stuff I learned in the workplace when I'm managing employees. Giving my mentees feedback and asking for their opinion has made me understand that people younger than us and even in earlier stages of life can teach us things we would have never imagined learning from them. This will allow me to be more understanding with the employees that I work with and encourage a workplace where the spread of ideas is encouraged, overlooking the hierarchy. I would encourage every single person to become a mentor because mentoring not only helps the mentee, but develops the mentor itself.