Mentorship, and its affects

Throughout high school, there are a lot of hidden stresses piled on young minds dealing with the big question, "What am I supposed to do with my life after high school?" #highschoolcareer Simple, but scary, right? After all, it is the question that dictates over 40 years of your life. So as students, how are we supposed to figure out the very question that will determine the majority of our lives?

My name is Chloe, and I'm here to tell you to take a deep breath, there are opportunities out there that can get you ready for your future. Today, we will highlight the ins and outs of mentorship.

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How did I get here?

Enter Chloe as a sophomore in high school: I began questioning, "Where is my life going after high school?" I knew I wanted to pursue house design, but I wasn't exactly sure how. I loved houses and the art of designing them, but did I want to design the outside, or the inside? And inside design has endless possibilities. As a Junior, I was filled with confusion and curiosity.

What was I going to do about it?

Now onto Mentorship...

What is mentorship anyways? Basically, it's an opportunity to figure out what you want to do with your life. You have an career interest in mind? Do mentorship. Mentorship is pretty much having a job (sorry, you don't get paid), and you see your career interests.

I carried my curiousity about design over to Gaines Group Architects in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

The Gaines Group love for design and focus on sustainability inspired me before I even set foot in the firm. Did I know what I wanted to do? No. But Gaines Group helped me figure it out, and my mentor Charles Hendricks far exceeded my expectations for mentorship. Not only did he help me figure out what I want to pursue, but he helped me think of ways I could make a name for myself, not just pursuing a degree. I spent a semester of high school meeting with various interior designers from LDD Blueline and Dovetail, who both gave me amazing insight to what the design world is like and how to make my own way through it.

Mentorship also helped me choose my college path. I learned that I wanted to pursue it at Liberty University with their phenomenal interior design program that I visited #lifedecisions.

Liberty's campus and virtues stood out to me more than any college ever did.

The best thing about mentorship is you don't have to have it all figured out. Mentorship is an experiment. Although, for most people, it is the deciding factor on futures- at least for me it definitely was.

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Final Thoughts...

Mentorship brought me clarity. The importance of getting involved with things hands-on and experiencing your possible future is so crucial to spending your life doing something you love.

For the people who may not have this opportunity, find a job shadowing in your town! I promise, you won't regret it. Mentorship will not only clarify that lingering confusion, but you will see the bigger picture, and that is so important. Thanks for reading!! See you later:)