What Mentoring Means to Me

Mentoring is challenging and supporting someone to stretch outside their comfort zone and beyond their believed limits

DR. TIM PIERSON, VICE PRESIDENT FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS at Longwood since 1992

I see mentoring as an effective way to transfer my knowledge and experience, not only on scientific research but also on academic and everyday life, helping my mentees to discover their passion.

DR. SUJAN “HENK” HENKANATHTHEGEDARA, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY at Longwood since 2013

When I am mentoring, I try to have a good ear, a soft voice and a kind smile. When I am being mentored, I am looking for a good ear, a soft voice and a kind smile.

DR. RONDA SCARROW ’80, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF THEATRE at Longwood since 2007

Mentoring means empowering others to reach their full potential and seek their passions. Sometimes it only takes one person cheering you on and believing in you to change your life.

MEAGAN EARLS BYRNES, DIRECTOR OF FRATERNITY AND SORORITY LIFE at Longwood since 2018

Mentoring is understanding, challenging and supporting a student, without judgment, to explore who they are and who they wish to be. This process encourages the mentor to be uniquely present, open and selfless.

MONIQUE “MOE” BATES, DIRECTOR OF RESIDENTIAL PROGRAMS at Longwood since 2012

For me, mentoring relationships have begun in unusual ways (a student who was caught throwing a water balloon out of a Curry fifth-floor window, for example) or in more traditional ways. No matter what, the students I have mentored have taught me more than I ever taught them.

LARRY ROBERTSON ’90, DEAN OF STUDENTS at Longwood since 2004 (also 1992–95)

I want [my mentees] to understand that the world needs their unique light and that the world is a brighter, stronger, better place because they are in it.

MARY CARROLL-HACKETT, PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH AND CREATIVE WRITING at Longwood since 2003

A mentor is both a cheerleader and the voice of reason. A mentor has to be willing to look you in the eyes and say, “You are making a mistake.”

DR. MELANIE MARKS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS at Longwood since 1993

A mentor doesn’t have to be older and wiser and able to teach you or solve all your problems. A mentor listens, understands and walks beside you as you learn and solve problems together.

DR. JEANNINE PERRY, DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIES at Longwood since 2003