What Mentoring Can Do for You

The Cambridge Dictionary defines the word ‘mentor’ as “an experienced and trusted person who gives another person advice and help, esp. related to work or school, over a period of time.” In Greek mythology, Mentor was a loyal friend and adviser to Odysseus, king of Ithaca. Mentor helped raise Odysseus’ son, Telemachus, while Odysseus was away fighting the Trojan War. Mentor became Telemachus’ teacher, coach, counselor and protector, building a relationship based on affection and trust.

I have been a mentor for many years, and one of the reasons I spend so much of my own time helping others is because I never had a mentor. When I was in high school, I was already passionate about aviation and earned my pilot’s license during my senior year. But because I never saw any women working in aviation jobs, it never occurred to me that I could be a professional pilot, aircraft mechanic, air traffic controller, or airport manager. As Dr. Sally Ride, the first American female astronaut in space, said: “You can’t be what you can’t see.” If young girls don’t see women working in a given career field, especially a male-dominated one, they may never know what’s possible. My teachers and guidance counselor were not much help regarding career advice, despite me graduating near the top of my class and receiving a full scholarship to college. And since I didn’t have any mentors outside of school, I had no one to guide me or give advice on what my future could hold.

So, I became a mentor to provide others the type of support I never had in my youth. I have mentored people in the workplace in my roles as an Aerospace Engineer, Program Manager and Business Leader. I have been a Women in Aviation International (WAI) Chapter President several times since 2012 (currently leading the San Diego Chapter), which has afforded me opportunity to mentor quite a few young women. I met some very special Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) students through my support to Dreams Soar, Inc., a non-profit dedicated to inspiring youth about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education and aviation careers. Some of these mentor-mentee relationships resulted from specific requests for my help, and others just happened organically through building relationships and friendships. Here are some of my success stories, which I hope will educate the readers to the importance of either finding a mentor or being a mentor.

As President of the WAI San Diego Chapter, I collaborate with several flight schools in the area. One of them contacted us in 2016 to offer scholarships for 10 high school or college age girls to experience a “Do You Want to be an Airline Pilot?” introductory flight. We selected the students to participate in thisprogram, including Victoria (Tori) Peck. Tori, age 19at the time, had been inspired by Amelia Earhart in the 4th grade, dressing up like the famous aviator for a school project. Tori’s uncle, an airline pilot, also encouraged her to fly. But Tori stated that it wasn’t until I connected with her and offered her one of

these scholarships that she was hooked on the idea of becoming a pilot. As soon as her intro flight was over, Tori walked up to the counter at the school and signed up for flight training. And she has never looked back! Tori and I get together several times a year to review her progress and goals for flying. She has progressed amazingly well through flight training, obtaining her private pilot rating, instrument rating, and commercial rating, along with becoming sky-diving certified. I think it is safe to say the sky is not the limit for Tori!

The official definition of mentoring says that it happens over a period of time, but I don’t believe it needs to be long term to be successful. I have had occasions where my participation at one event has made a difference in someone’s life. I was asked to be the guest speaker at a summer graduation ceremony for a Science Olympiad program for elementary school students. I talked to the students about getting my pilot’s license as a teenager and about some of the really cool airplanes I worked on as an Aerospace Engineer. I wasn’t sure how much impact I might have on kids this age, but the response was really positive! Then, when I was walking towards my car to leave, two little girls came running after me to take a selfie, telling me how “awesome” I was and how much they loved hearing that girls could work on airplanes! Maybe that was a spark for their future? Another time I gave a presentation called “Aerospace Engineering as a Career” to a squadron of Civil Air Patrol cadets. At the end of the presentation some of the cadets had fairly routine questions for me. But my favorite moment was when one cadet stood up at attention and announced that he thought everything I had done in my career was so fascinating that he was going to change his major to Aerospace Engineering the next day! I also helped a high school student named

Kaitlyn Gallegos walk through a series of aviation career options while she was applying to colleges. We had seen each other a few times in the past and simply met for coffee, which was all it took for me to provide her a list of recommendations to think about. It is these moments that I cherish and do, in fact, categorize as mini mentoring experiences.

As an Air Force veteran, I am very proud to have helped three women enter military aviation careers.I met Paris Krula when I first moved to San Diego in 2014. She was trying to decide whether or not to join the Air Force, which was a lifelong dream of hers, but she also wanted to stay based in San Diego and have a family and connections to the community. Through our many talks and mentoring sessions, Paris applied to Officer’s Training School (OTS), asking me to write one of her letters of recommendation. She was accepted and after OTS transitioned to the Air Force Reserves. I am so proud of Paris for finding the balance she always sought, as she is currently an aircraft maintenance officer in the Air Force Reserves, and also holds a civilian job as the Assistant Airport Manager for one of the General Aviation airports in San Diego.

I also mentor two incredible women who are currently in the U.S. Navy’s flight training program. I met Shea Davis several years ago when she was an enlisted member of the Navy, working as a mechanic on H-60 helicopters. She told me that she always wanted to be a pilot, so I helped her find a local flight instructor to take private lessons. In parallel, I helped Shea with her application to Officer Candidate School (OCS), where she was accepted and is now learning to fly jets! One year later, I helped my friend Serena Hart apply to Navy OCS. I had selected Serena to take over as President of WAI San Diego in the summer of 2017, to provide her the leadership experience I sensed she needed and for which she was naturally talented. Serena also was accepted into OCS and is now in flight training. Both Shea and Serena invited me to their OCS graduation ceremonies, and it was my honor to be there and to arrange for my friend and colleague, CAPT Tamara Graham, to perform their private commissioning ceremonies. Part of being a mentor is also networking to connect others, and I am so glad that CAPT Graham will be available to mentor both of these Naval aviators in the future.

One of the volunteers from Dreams Soar who I ammentoring is Naia Butler-Craig. Naia was a student at ERAU, studying Aerospace Engineering with the goal of becoming a NASA Astronaut. Because of my technical background, Naia first asked me to review one of her class projects. I was so impressed with her that we started a very productive mentor-mentee relationship. I was able to do things like introduce Naia to a retired female astronaut, help her with graduate school decisions, and provide her career guidance. Last fall, I recommended Naia for the first Space Engineering scholarship ever offered by WAI, and she was selected! I was so proud to be at the WAI conference in March to witness Naia being awarded the $10,000 scholarship. The funds will come in handy as Naia is heading to Georgia Institute of Technology this fall to start their Aerospace Engineering PhD program.

Sometimes, mentoring happens by accident. We were getting ready to move away from San Diego earlier this year and our house was being shown to prospective buyers. A woman named Erin Bynum walked through the house and froze when she entered my home office. “Are you in aviation?” she asked. “Yes, I am”, I replied. Erin told me she wasn’t actually ready to move yet, but she said “something told me to come and look at this house.” Erin is in her mid-40s and has always wanted to be a pilot. We have been meeting and talking ever since, and I am helping Erin carve out her path to become a commercial pilot. She is brave to be making a mid-career change, and I am so honored to be one of the people helping to guide her towards achieving her dream.

As you see through these stories, mentoring can be quite beneficial to the person being mentored. So, if you don’t have a mentor, think about finding someone to help navigate your future! For the rest of you, I believe the rewards of being a mentor are even greater.

I have experienced more joy and personal fulfillment than I can express from mentoring people like you’ve been reading about in this article. The day you get that phone call, text message or email, hearing someone you’ve helped shouting from the rooftops with their big news, is a day you never forget. And remember that you can be a mentor to someone regardless of your age! Get out there and be like Mentor from Greek mythology, building relationships with others based on affection and trust. You never know how many lives you can change.