My name is Krupali and I have been a LOOK mentor volunteer for almost two years. In this time I have enjoyed the face-to-face interactions with other mentors, getting to know my mentees, supporting them through whatever they need and supporting LOOK at events and raising the awareness of the programme to others.
I became a mentor for many reasons but the main one is to support a young person at the most difficult stage of life. Being a teen is not easy, being a teen with a vision impairment is not a piece of cake either. I know I would have benefited from speaking to someone who had a fraction of understanding of what I was going through, what I was feeing and really someone I could vent to. It gives me some sense of belonging and direction. I hope that I can provide that support for my mentees, and along the way some laughs because you need to laugh about it all in the end.
I have been asked to share a tip when it comes to mentoring. The only thing that comes to mind is to be yourself. Doing so will get your mentee to open up and kick start an amazing and rewarding partnership.
Lastly, I would like to say thank you for being nominated for mentor of the month. Thank you everyone for supporting me in my role and a massive thanks to Shani for being an awesome coordinator and being there through my mentee partnerships
