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The speaker shares a personal story about their struggles in college and how they changed their academic path. They reflect on the importance of mentors in their life and how mentoring can have a positive impact on both individuals. Mentoring is not limited to age, and even young people can be mentors. The speaker enjoys connecting with students who they have mentored and seeing their growth and success. Have you ever worked really hard for something that you wanted really bad, and once you had it, you weren't sure how you were going to be able to maintain that? There was a time in my life when I was in college, and all of the hard work I had put into enrolling in the school of my dreams almost came to an end. A pivotal moment that changed my future and the path that I was on. As a first-generation college student, fresh off the farm, at a private university, I learned quickly that high school had not prepared me for the academic rigor of college. I struggled in my first year, taking classes toward a career in the sciences that I had convinced myself I was ready for. After failing chemistry my first semester that first year of college, I was a little dejected, but I had an epiphany. If I took that same class the second semester, why wouldn't I pass it? Boy, was I wrong. When I failed chemistry that second semester, it was very clear to me that my future did not lie in the sciences. So to begin my second year of college on academic probation meant venturing into a new path. This time, I figured business would be the route to take. Optimistic that my new major would lead to success, I enrolled in economics courses. Two classes and two semesters later, I found myself in that same place, failing my classes and coming to a crossroad. Do I stay for another semester without financial aid and try and get my grades up? Or do I transfer to the community college and finish my degree just to be done with school? Have you ever reflected on the successes in your life and wondered who may have been there to help you along the way? Sometimes I think we feel we reach our victories alone, but if we think really hard, we probably find that there was someone there pushing us along the way. Mentoring is so important because of the impact it can have on an individual's life, but also your own. In fact, studies out of John Hopkins suggest that when adults mentor young people, there's an effect on the ability to prevent and delay declining brain function. There's something about mentoring that just makes you feel good. Now, you can be an intentional mentor, meaning that you seek out opportunities to help others grow, or perhaps you fall into the unintentional mentoring category, being a mentor and not even knowing it. I've had many mentors in my life, both professionally and personally, mostly intentional, others not. But think about that. Have you ever mentored someone and not even realized it? Maybe you were advising or leading by example, and you never saw the results of that mentoring. I've learned along the years that our actions and our behaviors give us mentoring qualities, but you don't have to be old to mentor. Young people can mentor too. Some of my favorite moments have been when I've been able to connect with students that have impacted my life and realize that something in our passing helped them grow and succeed. I love reconnecting with those people.