Last week, we talked about the importance of being intentional with our encouragement. Here’s another way that we can offer verbal affirmation to the students we mentor.
We can acknowledge their feelings/circumstances and speak hope into them. As mentors, our tendency may be to downplay a student’s feelings or circumstances or try to fix them. Rather than doing either of those things, we can support them through those feelings/circumstances with words of hope. For example, we can help shape their perspective with an (appropriate) story from our own life. Or, we can share something we’ve heard (like a meaningful quote) that has encouraged us through a challenging time in our own lives.
–Jason Matthews, BTO Mentor Coach