Posts Tagged: "mentor"

A Heartfelt Thank You Letter to My 5th Grade Mentor

Princess Diana - June 23, 2015 - $20 or Less, Catch All, Teacher Gifts

Completely by chance, I found out a friend from high school worked with my 5th grade mentor, Mr. Brownlee.

I haven’t seen or talked to Mr. Brownlee in more than 20 years, but I’ve thought about him many times since then. Through him, I learned an important life lesson that always stuck with me.

Let me first explain how I got to know Mr. Brownlee. A few students from each of the 5th grade classes at my elementary were selected to be a part of a leadership group that everyone simply called “Mr. Brownlee’s Group.”

Each month, we met Mr. Brownlee in our school library to talk about a wide variety of different topics. He always brought a special guest so we could learn from people from all walks of life.

Tell Someone the Things You Admire About Them

Princess Diana - March 17, 2015 - Business, Experiences

My mentor called me one day and said, “You’re in trouble.”

I knew he was joking, but I was still a little nervous. What could this be about?

He said, “Diana, sometimes in life we don’t always get feedback on how we’re doing as a boss, as an employee, as a friend, as a spouse or as a parent.”

Telling someone that you admire them is one of the most thoughtful acts of kindness.

“Just in case I get hit by a bus tomorrow, I wanted to make sure the people whom I admire know how I feel about them.”

He went on to share very specific qualities of mine that he admired: educated, good attitude, plays well in the sandbox with others, good communicator, good mother and wife, good work/life balance, and head screwed on tight.

As he told me these things, I sat there in a positive state of shock, and I felt a tear collect in the corner of my eye.

Hearing someone tell me all of the things I was doing right gave me that same magical feeling of opening presents on Christmas morning, except this time each kind word my mentor spoke to me became its own present.