Etc.Hispana and ProudMulticultural Vida

The Power of Mentorship

The power of mentorship is real. Last week at the #WeAllGrow Summit I was surrounded by women who are mentors (some of mine were there!) and women who who have been touched by these special people that take time to help a person grow. I was reminded of the value a good mentor can bring to a person’s life.

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Mentors can change a person’s life. They provide invaluable support at time when it is greatly need: times of professional challenges and decision-making especially, but also other times of struggle or distress. They also celebrate you and your wins.  I have been lucky to have mentors in my life who have shared their wisdom and supported me.  This is especially true in my career as a freelance writer and blogger. The support I have received has been mind-blowing  and I am so grateful.

In the Hispanic community, it is especially important to support one another because we have the power to lift ourselves up and as a result, this will lift our community up.  Mentors are especially important for young high school Latinas who are many times the first in their families to go to college. Navigating the  application and financial aid process, or even deciding to apply to college can be daunting, especially when your parents have not attended college, are not familiar with the educational system in the United States or do not speak the language. In addition to that, young Latinas are navigating two cultures and two worlds and sometimes there is pressure from both sides. A helping hand or having someone to listen and guide you during this time is really important.

There is no right time to have a mentor, different mentors can appear at different times in your life. A mentor-mentee relationship can (and should!) happen very organically. I have been privileged to have mentors in my life who have taken an interest in my work and have supported me with honest feedback and opportunities. I hope to one day be able to pay it forward and help others as I have been helped.

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I loved that the Power of Mentorship was highlighted at #WeAllGrow by Pine-Sol, one of its sponsors. The Pine-Sol Suite featured a great vision board inviting us to write inspirational and motivational thoughts under the theme “When Life Stinks, Women Rise Above It.” It also featured 20 minute coaching sessions with coaching extraordinaire, Deborah Deras.

I had my coaching session with Deborah and we discussed my passions and goals and talked about setting up a plan for the future. I explained that I was currently finishing up graduate school and told her that May 19th was graduation date. Deborah exclaimed “So your plan starts on May 20th!” I loved being able to talk through what my passions are, because talking about them and saying them out loud puts things in perspective and reminds me of what my goals are… which sometimes I can lose sight of because of my crazy life.

Here are my mentors,  women who have laughed with me, cried with me, believed in me and continue to  inspire me to be better every day! Gracias Lorraine, Migdalia and Jeannette! I am certainly thankful and will certainly pay it forward!

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Who are your mentors? Give them a shoutout below!

Do you have a mentee? How has being a mentor changed your life?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the power of mentorship!

Diana Limongi
Diana a mom, activist, nonprofit professional, podcaster and writer from Queens, NY. She writes about motherhood, activism, raising my multilingual kids, culture and travel. She and her multicultural family live in Queens, NY.

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