To finalize the third Mentoring Awareness Week there was a #Mentoring101 session which was conducted online by the Strathmore Mentoring Services department on November 13, 2020. The week is set aside to foster the students’ understanding of mentoring in Strathmore University and encourage them to engage more with their mentors. This year’s theme was “Reach Out”, an idea aimed at encouraging the students to reach out to their mentors. The week saw students and their mentors participating in Mentoring Trivia and winning various prizes for answering the trivia questions correctly and quickly.

This year’s Mentoring101 session was moderated by Dr. John Mutisya and Ruby Kimondo, Manager and Administrator of Mentoring Services respectively. Attending as a guest speaker was Mr. Nathan Njoroge, Director and General Counsel at Citibank East Africa and NPC-East, who shared his perspectives and experiences in mentoring. Among his opening remarks was a definition of what mentoring is: “Mentoring is a relationship in which a more experienced or knowledgeable person helps to guide a less experienced and knowledgeable one.”

When asked to distinguish a mentor from a coach, Mr. Nathan said, “A mentor is one who thrives in building relationships while a coach is one who helps complete a task and can be remunerated for it.” He added that the key elements of mentoring are a mentor, a mentee, and the relationship cultivated by the two. He went ahead to introduce the three As of mentoring which are availability, acceptance, and affirmation. Mr. Nathan added the three Cs of a good mentor, namely, consultant, counsellor, and cheerleader. “A good mentor is one who is ready to be consulted by the mentee, able to cheer up the mentee, and is available to guide the mentee,” he says.

Strathmore University envisions educating its students as all-round citizens. In this light, the Mentoring Services department endeavours to help students to realize their potential as they become mature individuals and agents of change in the society. The department’s vision is to provide Strathmore students with supportive relationships they need to grow and develop into thriving, productive, and engaged young adults.

 

This article was written by Odhiambo Obonyo.

 

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