Although the last few weeks were pretty rough, everything is now flowing smoothly like the way I want it to, as I finally have a mentor! Her name is Nina Lin, and she is a grade 12 student who is currently doing an independent study with Ms. Croft, the art teacher. She is one of the most excelling students in Ms. Croft’s class and was interested in watercolor painting from the young age of 7.

Simran and I first met her on Thursday. We had a small meeting with Nina and Ms. Croft, and during the meeting, we talked about what our final goal was, how our schedule would look like, and what we wanted to learn in general. We agreed on when and how many times we were going to meet, which was every other Thursday at lunch. Although we would only get 6 lessons that are 40 minutes short, this was the only time that would be able to fit in all our schedules considering Nina’s, and Simran’s, and my extra-curricular activities. We also talked about how our lessons were going to look like. We would meet Nina in Ms. Croft’s class as she has all the supplies and materials needed (brushes, paint, watercolor paper, etc.), and she would teach us the techniques we need. We would then get some kind of homework, and we would have to bring it and show it to Nina at the next meeting. Most likely, Ms. Croft will also be in the room to help us if needed. Nina seems like a very hardworking and diligent person, and I can’t wait for my first lesson!

1. What went particularly well during your mentoring sessions?
Since this was our first session together, we mostly talked about our overall plan, but I would say our communication was very good. Simran and I were able to ask Ms. Croft and Nina all the questions we wanted to ask and they were able to answer them thoughtfully and clearly.

2. Were you actually listening to each other? Explain.
I would say everyone was actively listening to each other as we were all giving and answering questions and sharing our ideas. Everyone would ask for clarification if needed and everyone was engaged in the conversation we had.

3. What logical challenges affected your communication?
I would say the biggest challenge was that we didn’t have a proper way to communicate with Nina. At first, we would have to email Ms. Croft, she would email Nina, Nina would email Ms. Croft back, and finally, Ms. Croft would email us, which was a very inefficient way to communicate with each other. After the meeting, Simran and I got Nina’s personal contacts so that we could text her directly if we had any questions or needed help.

I am looking forward to the next meeting on Thursday, and I can’t wait to learn all about watercolor!