Over the holidays, I witnessed the impact of a rocketry club mentor on generation of high school students. For those who do not know what a rocket club is, the club provides students, usually STEM students, the opportunity to make rockets and compete nationally, under the guidance of a NASA program designed for young people.  My daughter joined rocketry club as a freshman in high school and traveled to Washington D.C. and Alabama for rocketry competitions.  She is now an engineering student at Michigan.  The club has won several awards nationally and participated in an international competition in Paris.  Pavel is the club’s mentor. His leadership makes the practical application of engineering fun and has, no pun intended, launched the careers of hundreds of students in science and engineering. 

During the winter break, my daughter received an email from the sponsor of the rocket club telling club members, past and present, that if they would like to visit Pavel they should go to the Hospice Center in town, and the sooner the better.  

When we arrived at the center, along with dozens of other young people and parents, there was a line outside the door. The center’s receptionist created two signup sheets to accommodate us.  Each student was on a mission that day.  To tell their mentor, “You meant so much to me, to my career, to my future goals. I want to thank you for believing in me.”

Pavel accepted none of this praise, instead asking each student to tell him what their goals were and how they planned to accomplish their goals.  He admonished them not to be wishy washy like they were as freshmen and to have a plan.  He joked from his hospital bed, gave advice, and yet allowed the students an opportunity to tell him how much he meant to them.  That too was a gift to the students who were devastated by his illness.  Your mentor isn’t supposed to get sick.

But before I continue with my reflection on the value of mentoring, my daughter has informed me that no matter what I suggest to you about mentoring today, none of you will ever be able to match Pavel, the mentor God.

Fortunately, I’m not asking you to become Gods of Career Advice and Counsel.  I’m reflecting.  This is a reflection. It’s in the title.

My First Mentor

My first mentor as a library student was John Peters.  When I was a library student, John led the government documents department at the Historical Society on the University of Wisconsin campus.  He dressed like Mr. Rogers, in a navy cardigan sweater.

I bought a cardigan sweater like John’s while working for him because, well, who doesn’t like a warm sweater?  It even had pockets.  When I made a career change to worked at a law firm, the lawyers mocked me for my library sweater, such a stereotype! But it isn’t as if I needed a $1,000 suit.  I only went to court once during my tenure at the firms, and I probably wore my sweater.  

My mentor, John, was the most knowledgeable government document librarians in Wisconsin.  At my interview, he hired me on the spot.  I don’t think anyone has ever said to me, “When can you start?” during an initial interview, only John.  As a student employee, John put me to work sorting boxes of documents delivered from state and federal agencies.  It wasn’t a thrill a minute, but I learned a lot about document collections. 

John’s management style probably wasn’t for everyone.  It sometimes included stomping into the staff area to yell at us, “Everyone get to WORK! I want lots of hard work today! Work, work, work!”

The first time he said this to me I shook a finger at him, “Now, now, Mr. Peters, we’re state workers.” Not that he laughed, he probably frowned, but his eyes sparkled with mischief. 

Under his supervision I developed a life-long interest in special collections. When I graduated, he handed me a graduation card, a little cash, and best of all, he gave me job training.  My first professional library job was as a government documents librarian, which eventually led to a job in a law firm library and finally, to an academic position. 

I’ve had several mentors since, most often lawyers who decided I was worth the time and effort, but John was special, and I will always value what he gave to me; the confidence to be a librarian, a practical sweater for work, and a little bit of humor to keep me sane while employed by the madmen and women at a large law firm. 

Mentoring as a librarian

Librarians are johnny come lately to the realization that both our profession as well as newly minted librarians would benefit from mentoring.  Maybe, and this is just speculation, one reason we arrived late to this party is because our profession is dominated by women and thus, we lacked the structure of the good old boys’ club, which has traditionally been a place to find mentors. 

Several years ago, I had a conversation about mentoring with a law professor, although more on point, it was a discussion about the lack of mentoring opportunities for minorities–of which he was one–in the legal profession, as well as the lack of opportunity for women and First-Generation professionals.

This is the story that he shared with me about his time at a firm.

As an attorney, he had an office next to the elevator.  On Monday mornings he would watch partners get off the elevator, walk past his office to the next associate’s office down the hall, where he could hear them chuckle while sharing how much fun they had during a weekend golf outing.  Eventually, the partner would get around to giving that associate a plum assignment. 

Realizing his predicament and in search of a mentor, he tried asking a partner, one of the few who was also a minority, to sponsor him, but that partner informed him that since he had made it on his own, he couldn’t help him.  He made it against the odds, so should others.

As a woman in the workforce, this was an attitude I recognized, and we both agreed it was unhelpful to anyone new to the profession because lack of good counsel early on in your career can lead to avoidable missteps. Mistakes that we are all prone to when we are new to a job. Those stressors could prove to be a significant enough barrier on a young professional to drive them to leave, which is often a costly decision.  

The point, after all, isn’t that you make it against all odds. The point is to change those odds and make it easier for others who come after you. To become the practical magic, the mentor God, or companion, for new professionals as they learn and development a career.

Just ask any member of West High Rocketry Club, as diverse a group of young people as you could find, who used teamwork and leadership to reach for the stars. Without their mentor, they never would have been able to fly so high.

For more information on mentoring in law librarianship and the legal profession, I recommend two current articles:

  1. From the January issue of AALL Spectrum addressing mentorships from a First-Generation point of view, see, When Mentorship Matters Most, https://aallspectrum.aallnet.org/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&edid=8d60cacd-7b36-4855-9f76-5e8969340583.  
  2. The Wisconsin Bar Association’s recently published an article on making mentoring young professionals a New Year’s Resolution, See, New Year’s Resolution: Be a Mentor in 2023, https://www.wisbar.org/NewsPublications/InsideTrack/Pages/Article.aspx?Volume=15&Issue=1&ArticleID=29522