My mom is the queen of introductions. She loves to meet new people and then introduce them to others whom she believes they will get along with. She also happens to loves making me talk to everyone and anyone that she can find to “give her young daughter advice on finding a job”. Due to my mother’s meddling in my career path, I was lucky enough to meet one of my first career role models and one of my close friends.
When I was a senior in high school and navigating the stressful path of college applications, my mother met a young woman at a party and immediately got her number. She came home and forced me to call the woman and invite her to coffee so that “I could learn a little something from a successful, smart lady”. At that point, I dreaded reaching out to people for advice and I assumed that no one in their right mind would want to talk to a teenager about career paths for an hour. Surprisingly, when I called the lady she sounded happy to talk to me and immediately set up a day and time that we could meet.
We ended up meeting for an hour at the Philz Coffee near my house and I cannot stress the importance of that one hour on some of the decisions that I have made in my career path. I could not believe that someone so successful had gone through some of the same choices and struggles that I was currently undergoing. On top of that, she had gotten through it and had advice for me to do the same. She talked to me openly about changing her college major, deciding whether to work for non-profits or the corporate world, and completely changing her dream job. She also gave me advice on how to get internships and what to look for in prospective colleges, which were important issues on my mind at the moment. Overall, she managed to make me feel like I was not alone in the struggle of determining my career path and her own winding path gave me some peace of mind.
After that one hour, I immediately called my mom and thanked her for forcing me to meet this woman even though I had repeatedly complained about it. I also remained in touch with her over the years and she continues to check in with me and give me advice on whatever I am dealing with at the moment.
In the past, I had never thought that people would be so open about their different paths, but I have realized that everyone loves to talk about himself or herself and it is up to us to pursue this type of mentoring relationship. Over the years, I have forced myself to become more open to mentors and role models in different aspects of my life. All of these people have impacted my life in various ways and have helped me make countless decisions, but most of all they have made me feel like I am not alone in my struggles.