Professional Issues Class Post 3: My Ideal Mentor

The assignment:  Describe your ideal CF mentor.  Think about who you are and how you learn when thinking about the person who you want to guide you into the part of the profession.  Thinking again about your learning style, what are your concerns about the CF and can you best prepare for whatever concerns remain?

After I graduate, I get to hang out in some sort of SLP Purgatory for a year. 

I think one of those skeletons is writing an IEP.

It’s called a CFY = Clinical Fellowship Year.  Luckily I can finally start drawing a salary, but I won’t be a full-fledged SLP until I complete the requirements, which include regular supervision by a mentor, a certain number of hours and establishing a level of competency in several areas.    

 

During my 3 clinical externships, I have had 6 different supervisors.  Every one of them has been kind, helpful and patient; never failing to answer my multitude of questions.  I have heard stories of other clinical supervisors setting up adversarial, drill-sergeant type relationships where students are quizzed on anatomical terms at random times and put on the spot in front of clients.   Maybe that kind of tough love works for some, but I fear such a tactic would shatter my fragile confidence like a watermelon in a prop comic’s routine.

The difference with the CF mentor is that this person will not be with me daily, answering my million questions, someone I can turn to when a client hits me with a question that I have no idea how to answer.   But rather, this mentor guides me from afar.  We will meet several times per quarter, but basically I will go to my mentor with the big questions, while I will be on my own to figure out the small day-to-day challenges in the trenches

Which brings me to my answer to this week's question.  What am I looking for in an ideal CF Mentor?

Sense of humor.   I like to laugh.  I joke around a lot.  I don’t know that I could work closely with someone for a whole year if we couldn’t laugh together.   Because sometimes kids do gross things or deadlines get missed and you just have to laugh your way through to the other side of whatever mess you are in.  So we'll start with an ideal mentor who is 1 part Wanda Sykes:

Patience.   Like I said before, I ask a million questions.  As a child, I got the distinct impression that my teachers didn’t always appreciate my curious nature.    As an adult, raising a miniature version of myself, I now understand the patience it requires to deal with someone who Must Know All The Things At All The Times.   Not understanding something is not an option.  Therefore, my mentor should also be 1 part Fred Rogers:

 

Creativity.  This goes without saying.   I don’t need a mentor who thinks that a crocheted larynx is over the top.   Or that photocopied worksheets are “good enough."  Or wonders why anyone would own a laminator.  Pshaw.  So let's add 1 part Martha in there somewhere:
 

Ingenuity.  But I’m still paying off student loans, so I'll do best with someone who can help me brainstorm marvelous lesson plans and therapy ideas out of common household items and supplies found around the workplace.   Here we’ll add a dash of MacGyver:

 
Looks.   I'm not saying it's a requirement, but it wouldn't hurt to have a mentor who looks a little like Zachary Quinto.  

Regardless of who I end up with, I look forward to the experience and I am glad that ASHA provides us a little safety net before we are thrust out there into the world of Speech Pathology on our own.  While I may need a little nudge from the nest, I hope it’s a gentle nudge and not a full forced shove.   Either way, I’m going to have to learn to spread those wings eventually.