Small Successes

One of the biggest successes so far this year was that I finally secured a mentor. I will not lie it seemed quite easy to get a mentor in the beginning of the year but clearly I was wrong. Securing a mentor is quite an arduous journey but I believe a worthwhile one. I believe that because this experience of working with a professional is so unique it is important that you have to work for it because that gives you true appreciation. It gives you true appreciation for the process, it gives you true appreciation for ISM, and most importantly it gives you true appreciation for your mentor. Of course, he/she did not have to accept the mentorship at all because they are taking time out of their schedule to help some random high-schooler with his/her ambition. But once a mentor is secured, especially after much rejection, it makes the whole process much more fruitful. Additionally, I have seen a large increase in productivity in class which was one of my goals this semester in ISM. Last semester, I felt that it was taking way too long to complete assessments for research or interviews and class time would not be enough to complete them. However, last week I managed to complete a single evidence of learning in 45 minutes which is a significant improvement in my writing time and I am getting essentially the same content assessed as the research assessments. This past week has been all about small successes and hopefully these successes will render my second semester in ISM largely a success.