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Happy Mentoring Young Professionals!

I would like to share with you the following quote I read last night by Robert Brault, “Why try to explain miracles to your kids when you can just have them plant a garden?”

This quote touched home with me for many reasons. One reason which immediately came to mind was I recently spoke with a Director of a school in the Chicagoland area & during our conversation I was informed their students, I believe 7^th and 8^th graders, harvest a garden down the street from the school. The students prepare meals with the food they grow and sell the meals for a profit & donate their profits to charity. I was amazed when I heard this. Children are literally being taught:

• What we plant today will nourish our futures.
• What we care for and how we care for it will nourish our futures.
• What we teach today will nourish our futures.

  Students, in a sense, are being taught to think about life as a garden & how to care for it & use it to provide for a community & give their profits to charity. 7^th & 8^th graders are getting a crash course in “how to run a non-profit” before college & before they enter high school! These students are learning from a young age that what they plant provides for the future. This got me thinking…

• Will I literally plant a garden like the students?
  • The answer; no.
• Do I have to limit the word garden to a place where someone grows produce?
  • The answer; no, I can interpret the garden as people.
• What garden (or group of people) can I nourish?
  • The answer; as a mentor I can nourish & support the minds & dreams of others. My garden is unlimited.

    Like the students are being taught, it is really up to us to harvest our own garden, to pluck the weeds & create beauty. It is up to us to figure out:

• Where can I make a positive impact
• What gardens we want to start nourishing
• What seeds can we plant today for a better future
• Who can help harvest a fruitful future

If you have not thought about your “garden” & how will you nourish it, today is the day to begin thinking. We don’t literally have to grow food for a community to make a positive impact. We can start small & mentoring is a small yet big step in the right direction to nourishing a fruitful garden. Mentor your peers, students, elders. Your mentoring choices are unlimited! When we mentor we plant the seeds of community service today for a stronger, community focused environment for the future. It all starts with us though. And it all boils down to will I nourish my garden?

 Kind Regards,

William T. Kernan
Chair, IMA Young Professional Advisory Committee

“We must never stop dreaming. Dreams provide nourishment for the soul, just as a meal does for the body.” – Paulo Coelho