Kevin is an engineer at Rolls Royce. He was keen to get involved in volunteering and his employer has been very supportive of his role as a mentor.
“His enthusiasm is growing through having a mentor, I think I’m helping him open his mind into career paths.”
Why did you choose to become a mentor?
I’m in a fortunate position within my life that I have time I can dedicate towards volunteering. Due to this I felt that I could offer a young person an insight on my life.
What changes have you seen in the young person you mentor?
I’ve noticed subtle changes since I started mentoring my young person in January. He wants to meet me every week. When I speak to the coordinator I get told that he’s been asking when I’m next coming in. His enthusiasm is growing through having a mentor. I think I’m helping him open his mind into career paths. My young person is quite outgoing, I can almost see a bit of myself in him. He likes a laugh, but probably not always at the right times like when he should be focusing a little more energy into school work. Since we have started talking about that it seems to have improved.
How has being a mentor changed or impacted you?
It breaks up the time in my week with regards to work and it gives me something to look forward to. It gives me a break away from work life, my family life. It’s nice to find out what my young person has been up to that week and over the weekend. I go in and my young person is usually standing waiting on me coming which is nice as it means he wants to meet me and doesn’t need to be called for.
What would you say to someone about becoming a mentor?
Meeting my mentee was a lot better than I had thought. We started talking straight away about common interests and that set the tone for the rest of the meeting. It’s not all about hobbies, we include what his aspirations are and how he’s doing at school.
