January is National Mentoring Month, and throughout the country, youths and adults alike are being recognized for work they do around the year. Wednesday was National “Thank Your Mentor Day.” On this day, mentors and mentees alike are encouraged to reflect on the benefits of mentoring and to think about the benefits of the entire process.

Community members are encouraged to consider the benefits of becoming a mentor themselves.

Susan Trippiedi is assistant director of the University Executive Leadership Programs and has been working with a local child, mentoring that child for over seven years.

Trippiedi said her mentee, whose name could not be released, plans on graduating high school in June and attending college in the fall. The student is also eligible for scholarships because of Trippiedi’s continued service.

“During the first years of our relationship, we spent most of our weekly meeting time playing board games, working on craft projects and eating lunch together,” Trippiedi said. “Our conversations centered around the game or task at hand.”

However, Trippiedi said her relationship with her child has changed over the past few years.

“During the past three years the nature of our relationship has evolved to where we are comfortable in talking about most anything when we are together,” she said. “The relationship has grown from mentor/mentee to a friendship. The real turning point seemed to be when I spent time helping her learn to drive.”

“We developed a new trust in one another,” Trippiedi said.

Barbara Linder, community connections director and mentor coordinator for the Urbana School district, said mentoring is promoted throughout the entire year.

The program was started in Urbana in 1994 and has been running successfully ever since, she said. The pilot program began in the Urbana middle schools, and Champaign then began its own program.

“The program helps kids improve their attendance and academic performance at schools,” Linder said. “We usually begin the mentoring process when the student is in elementary school or middle school, typically between the fourth and seventh grades, and continue the process into high school.”

Although mentoring helps students academically, there is a difference between mentoring and tutoring, Linder said. Tutoring is more concerned with improving academic performance in a certain area, and mentoring is more concerned with developing a relationship between two individuals to allow both of them to grow. Mentoring aims to create a feeling of friendship and gives the child someone to rely on.

There is also an emotional component to the process, Linder said.

“The kids feel better about themselves through the process of mentoring,” she said. “Mentors encourage them to explore new ideas and become the people they have the potential to be.”

The mentoring program is about developing a relationship of comfort and trust, Linder said.

“Mentors and their children play games, talk to each other, and develop a friendship,” Linder said. “‘Thank Your Mentor Day’ is an opportunity to consider becoming a mentor yourself and to thank people who are currently doing the very worthwhile job.”

Trippiedi and her mentee have developed a significant relationship.

“I started with the C-U One to One Mentoring Program because I thought I could help make a difference in a child’s life,” Trippiedi said. “I didn’t realize at that time what a great impact (my mentee) would have on me.”

Mentors are expected to spend at least an hour per week with their mentees.

“Sometimes an hour a week from a busy work schedule sounded overwhelming, and many times I worried about whether or not I really had time to mentor,” Trippiedi continued. “However, I found that even on a week when I felt like we had little or no conversation of substance, I left feeling glad I met up with my mentee that day.”

Trippiedi said the benefits of the program, although not always easy to see, are always present.

“I am really proud of her these days,” Trippiedi said. “It’s hard to see the direct impact of the mentoring program, but I am happy to have watched her grow into a mature, level-headed young woman with solid goals. We have learned from each other.”