Tag: YearEnd

The Benefits of Having a Mentor

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Grace Cheng (she/her/hers), Low Entropy Volunteer Writer

 

What is the value of having a mentor in your life? Do you have an interest in finding one, but do not know where to begin?

 

What is mentorship?

Mentorship plays a crucial role in everyone’s life to ensure that they succeed in their endeavors. Everyone must have at least one outstanding mentor in their lives. Mentors in our lives can range from professionals, such as teachers and coaches, to everyday individuals we come across. They will provide you with valuable advice and motivation to transform your future dramatically. Mentors will show you simple shortcuts that will allow you to get back on track quickly. 

Through the mentoring relationship, the mentees can navigate obstacles and challenges they may encounter both in their professional and personal lives. Mentors can prepare mentees based on their own experiences, contributing to their success and achievement as they pursue their career and life goals.

Mentorship can help mentees stay motivated and focused on their career path, build confidence, teach them how to present themselves, achieve their goals, and expand their networks. Mentoring allows you to self-discover things that you may not have known about yourself and promote your career growth. It is important to pay attention to your mentors and take their advice and guidance, as this will help you grow personally and professionally. 

How to find mentors?

It is important to find a mentor who is aligned with your personal and professional development needs. Identify people who are in a more advanced stage in their career, preferably in your same field, to help you develop both hard and soft skills. A priority should be given to individuals who enjoy teaching or training and are committed to supporting the growth of others. Authenticity, reliability, awareness of a mentee’s needs, and engagement are important qualities in a mentor. Using this method may enable you to brainstorm with people you know who may be able to serve as your mentors.

Benefits of having mentorship

  1. Clarify your situation

When you are feeling lost or confused, it can be challenging to define your situation when thinking about it on your own. Your mentors can help you gain a clearer understanding of where you are now, how you arrived at this point, and where you hope to go in the future. 

  1. Valuable resource

Mentorship can be a valuable resource if you do not know what you want to do with your life. They help you define your skills and direct you towards industries and occupational roles that may be right for you.

  1. Provide guidance

They provide guidance that enables mentees to learn from their experience by offering advice, establishing trust, and listening to their questions and concerns. Mentors offer professional advice to mentees who may be entering the field for the first time, exploring a possible new career path, or hoping to succeed in their current positions.

  1. Teach from their experience

Your mentors will be able to provide you with valuable advice and insight based on the experience they have gained during their journeys, which can have been like yours. Find out what your mentors did when they were in your shoes and what they did to move forward.

  1. Role models

They can be your role models and will guide you toward a meaningful, successful, and fulfilling life. Imitate their behavior, their approach to life, and how they deal with obstacles if possible.

  1. Motivation and Inspiration

Mentors recognize when you make excuses or are unwilling to move forward and alert you to these situations. Unlike you, they are not willing to accept your unsubstantiated excuses. Moreover, they have dealt with similar fears to those you are currently facing, so they can assist you in developing the skills to overcome these fears and move forward. They have done this before, and they have “got your back.” Make use of their past successes as a motivation for your future endeavors.

  1. Encouragement

They encourage you when life becomes challenging, and you need a push to keep going. Without a mentor, it may be easier to come up with negative ideas in your daily life, especially when dealing with a complex issue or situation. 

  1. Promote personal and professional development

Mentors are experts at transforming negative experiences into learning opportunities. They can help you overcome your obstacles. Mentors can assist you to develop personally and professionally.

  1. Give honest feedback

Your mentors help you understand who you are so that you can identify your weaknesses and work to overcome them. Their feedback can assist you to identify areas of improvement, especially when you are not fully aware of them. 

Go for it if you are wondering whether to take the mentorship plunge – you will not regret it!

 

–

Grace has an accounting and finance background. She enjoys reading, writing, listening to music, watching movies and playing sports.

What is Power?

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Isabella Wen (she/her), Low Entropy Volunteer Writer

 

Power

What is power?  

Some people say power is the ability to control others. Some say that wealth is power, since money runs the world after all. Perhaps power is physical strength or enamouring beauty.  

 

But at its core, what is power?

 

The other day a friend of mine ranted to me about how they wish they had the power to change what people thought about a certain author. That their opinions were wrong, that they have too much influence over young children. 

 

Another friend was upset that a certain politician was spreading false views, but that a different politician that they believe in is correct, and therefore had more power and influence. 

 

And yet another person wished people would stop giving the new internet sensation, Andrew Tate, a platform. A form of social power. 

 

Lastly, someone told me they wished that powerful people would turn their attention to the current housing market issues. Stating, “If I had the power to decide, the problem would be fixed really quick!” 

Conversations about power, control, and influence circulate around us each day. 

 

But what is power? How do we obtain power?  

 

There is a famous riddle from A Song of Ice and Fire that interests me quite a bit. It presents a situation where four people are stuck in a room. The four people are a King, a priest, a wealthy man, and a sellsword. The sellsword must kill two of them. Each person says to kill the other two people. The king argues that he is the ruler of the kingdom, his wish is the sellsword’s command. The priest argues that if he is killed, the sellsword will go to hell. The wealthy man offers plenty of money if he decides to kill the other two people. 

 

Who does the sellsword kill? 

 

Some say it is the King because he is the ruler of the kingdom. Some say the priest because he symbolizes God. Lastly, the wealthy man is a popular choice because many value money overall. 

So, what do you think? The option you choose reflects your beliefs. 

 

Power does not exist without bias. 

 

The answer to the riddle is it is the sellsword’s decision. If the sellsword believed in God and feared going to hell, he’d kill the King and the wealthy man, and so on. The sellsword has the power.  

 

Real power is choice.  

 

Real power is the ability to make a decision and the ability to choose who to support or choose who to disagree with. What to believe or what to disregard.  

 

Whether we believe that a certain politician or celebrity has power, we are giving them the power through influence and belief.  

 

We as people decide who holds power. We as people decide who to shun and who to put on a pedestal. We all have power. Power to choose and the power to make a difference through supporting what we value. Power to give people a platform for their voices. 

 

A study called the French and Raven (1959) model, explored the idea of there being 5 types of social power.  

 

First, Legitimate – This comes from the belief that a person has the formal right to make demands and to expect others to be compliant and obedient. 

Reward – This results from one person’s ability to compensate another for compliance. 

Expert – This is based on a person’s high levels of skill and knowledge. 

Referent – This is the result of a person’s perceived attractiveness, worthiness and right to others’ respect. 

Coercive – This comes from the belief that a person can punish others for noncompliance. 

 

Six years later, Raven added an extra power base: 

Informational – This results from a person’s ability to control the information that others need to accomplish something (definitions from mindtools.com). 

 

Sure, each representation of power from the beginning of the article, or from my many acquaintance’s remarks, are included here. Still, the study also explores how each social power has different effects and efficiency. What type of person are you? How do you interpret each method? What works on you? 

 

Power does not exist without bias. 

 

We control, we have power. We just have to recognize that and use it.   

 

—

 

Isabella is a student in British Columbia. She enjoys reading, all kinds of music, meeting new people, and long walks in the park. She loves her family and friends who inspire her to work harder and pursue her dreams. Isabella owes much of her passion for writing to her older brother who always inspired her to nurture her writing hobby.

In the Moment

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Jihu Lee (she/her/hers), Low Entropy Volunteer Writer

 

How many of us constantly look forward to the “next big thing”? How many have also experienced finally arriving at said “big thing” only to be anxious for the next thing? I call this “Schroedinger’s lifestyle,” in which it feels impossible to be present in the moment that is occurring at a given time. 

Last fall during my sophomore year in college, I had a very intense schedule on top of the fact that it was also my first time on campus after the pandemic had kept us home online during my freshman year. Almost immediately once school started in the fall, I couldn’t wait for winter break. While I definitely enjoyed campus life, I was eager for the semester to end because of how exhausting my schedule already was and even started counting down the weeks. 

By the time winter break came, I was initially excited and deeply relieved that the moment I had been waiting for was finally here. However, I quickly realized that I was too restless and burnt to fully enjoy the break. I felt guilty about relaxing and – surprise – wanted the following semester to begin as soon as possible so that I could relish in productivity again. 

With the rise of the Omicron Variant at the time, the spring semester began online for the first two weeks before we were all confirmed to return to campus. These two weeks were immensely challenging for me, but it was also my final turning point for the mindset I carried every day. I made a promise to myself that if we were able to go back to school in person, I would treasure every little moment. When I returned to the campus that I had missed so much, I was fully determined to be present, no matter what was going on. I could not believe I had had the audacity to count down the precious weeks I was able to spend in the fall. Even amidst the high stress that I unavoidably encounter, I am learning to let it coexist with joy. 

Just as importantly, longing for the past is also detrimental to living in the moment. Of course, nostalgia and fond reminiscence are valuable, but being stuck in the past has consequences for our well-being. One of the biggest reasons I find myself wishing for the past is the realization that I’d still had so much time. Even a year ago from today, I was worried that things were moving too fast. And now, I look back and see how much life had been awaiting me and that I was far from running out of time. With this in mind, I am learning how to make the most out of the present moment, no matter how uncertain or anxious I feel about the future. And by living fully in the moment, I can make memories and create a past that won’t need grieving. 

All of this is certainly easier said than done. I myself am far from an expert and have only reached this point after facing adversity and life lessons first hand. But I hope we can all help relieve ourselves of any pressures we face – whether they are from past decisions or fear of the future – by remembering that there is only now. The past has passed and the future is not here yet. And by channeling our energy to the present, hopefully we can build ourselves both a past and a future worth remembering.

 

—

 

My name is Jihu, and I’m from Salt Lake City, Utah! I have been with Low Entropy since May 2021. Some of the things I love are reading, writing, listening to music, playing with my dogs and spending time with my sister!

A Letter to Myself

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Bethany Howell (she/her/hers), Low Entropy Volunteer Writer

 

It’s been quite the year, hasn’t it?

 

You laughed until your ribs hurt and cried through so many cold nights.

You survived even on the days where you broke and you grew from that fight.

 

That thing you’ve been waiting for happened and that great fear came true.

That event didn’t matter as much as you thought and now you are able to see things that do.

 

You lost so much and yet were always able to keep your grasp.

You were better than you expected to be and, yes, those punches hit harder than they should have.

 

You rediscovered yourself and relearned things you thought you knew.

All this to say, my dear, you did well and I am so proud of you.

 

—

 

My name is Bethany Howell and I am a third-year university student majoring in psychology and minoring in family and child studies. I have a passion for writing and mental health, and my ultimate goal since age 13 has been to make a difference in the world through helping others, which is how I ended up here at Low Entropy!