My Mentor

My mentor is my stepsister Kristina. She is a few years younger than me but I look up to her. When she entered my life, we were complete opposites. She enjoyed staying home on her weekends and spending time with herself. She would spend her time reading her favorite books and doing a lot of self-care. I could not wait for the weekends to come because I wanted to go out and have fun with my friends. At the time, I thought my mediocre job was all I needed to make sure I was “doing something” with my life but I just wanted to live for the moment and have fun partying.  Kristina was very determined to continue her education and become a nurse. She went through hurdles but it never fully discouraged her or kept her back from fulfilling her goal. I eventually grew to admire her for her ambition.

One of the hurdles that she had to go through was failing the nursing exam during her undergraduate program. She ended up graduating with a psychology degree. She still wanted to become a nurse so, she enrolled in a nursing program after getting her bachelor’s degree in psychology. With her hard work, she passed her exam and has been a nurse for the past three and a half years. I relate to her because through my journey of completing my bachelor’s degree, I’ve had to make adjustments and now I will be graduating with a sociology degree instead of an education degree. I still want to become a teacher so I am planning on entering an alternative program to get my teacher certification when I get my bachelor's.

Through the years of her studying in school and me partying, she would always advise me that I should be thinking about school too. She always said that even though we were not sisters by blood, she still cared for me and wanted to make sure I was being careful about my choices in life.  After going through a traumatic experience in my life, she had a conversation with me about how I should start thinking about my future more seriously. Kristina would tell me that it is never too late and we are still young. She was the first person I disclosed my decision of going back to school. Being that she had experience in enrolling in school, and applying for financial aid she sat and helped me through the whole process. First, we browsed for the school that seemed best for my needs. She guided me through the financial aid process and what kind of loans I should avoid based on her loans experience.

 

Aside from mentoring me in pursuit of education, I also look up to her on how independent of a woman she is. She continues to make sure she is taking care of herself. A part of that is doing the things she loves even if she has no one else to do them with. She still has yet to find herself a partner, in the meantime; she still enjoys the company of friends and family. But what makes her really happy is traveling and she has taken solo trips several times.  This is something I really admire about her. I have learned that it’s okay to do things alone. She has taught me to make sure I am doing everything on my part to make sure I am happy in life by doing the things I love to do. I am really happy to have her in my life.