The Power of Connection through Mentorship

by Abigail Vensel, Project Manager—Me & My Math Mentor

I first learned about the power of connection through hearing about my mom’s relationships with her patients as a dental hygienist. She sees her patients twice a year for an hour, and most of the time, she has her hand in their mouth, yet she always speaks of her patients as if they were lifelong friends. She would know where each of their children was going to college and the updates of their move into a house across town; and in turn, my mom would say how they knew all about us, mentioning one of her patients had a book recommendation for me, or that someone had gifted her a CD from that band my little sister liked.

I would always wonder how, in such a short amount of time, under the glaring light of a dentist’s office, my mom could make such deep and lasting connections with people. It was from studying this phenomenon my entire childhood that I realized – that it is just the power of human connection. It doesn’t take very long to create a bond, to have an impact on someone else’s life, or for them to have an impact on yours. All it takes is two people sitting across from each other, listening, and being open to sharing their world with others.

Over my two years overseeing the Me & My Math Mentor (M4) project, I have again witnessed this phenomenon countless times: mentors listening to stories about their students’ lives, students learning what their mentor’s job is and what they actually do, and even seeing colleagues eyes light up in connection as they learn something new about their coworker they never knew before. That is what I believe mentorship is—connection, a give and take of knowledge and experience, an openness to seeing a person for who they are, and allowing them to have an effect on you.

In the 30-45 minutes, once a week, over about 16 weeks of the school year, these mentorship connections form. This is the power of Me & My Math Mentor—a lifelong impact being developed, all while playing a simple math game.

In fact, when mentors from this past school year were asked, “What did you enjoy most about being a Math Mentor?”. 100% of the responses were related to the relationships and connections they had developed with their students. These were some of their responses:

“[I enjoyed] building the connection with the children and observing how their relationship with different math concepts exemplified in the games change as their confidence and abilities strengthen.”

“I enjoyed building relationships and getting to know a great group of kids, and hopefully making them more comfortable with math and all the places it could take them.”

“I loved getting to know my kids and interacting with them. Knowing that we helped to make Math a more positive experience means a lot to me.”

“[I enjoyed] seeing that what I have taught them will help them later on in life.”

If my mom can know a patient’s entire life story after one hour of teeth cleaning, imagine the depth of connection built after 16 weeks of Math Mentor sessions. Think of the impact a Math Mentor can have on a student, on their beliefs of what they can achieve, or on their confidence in math—it is boundless. That is the power of connection, the power of mentorship, and the power of Me & My Math Mentor.