Mentorship: A Growth Process that Goes Both Ways

As our current Programme Intern, Maddie has been an invaluable part of the Volunteer Recruitment team since joining us in June, supporting everything from community outreach to research that helps us grow and strengthen our volunteer programme.

Maddie joins TKN all the way from the University of Florida, where she studies Finance, but her passion for mentoring and volunteering runs deep, with a background that spans community work and hands-on experience supporting others. She brings real enthusiasm and a genuine belief in what we do here at TKN.

We asked Maddie to share some of her reflections on her experience with mentoring and why it matters to her, here's what she had to say.

I have been a mentor pretty much all my life, just in very different contexts. It first began when my little sister was born. Since I was 6, I grew up knowing I had an example to set. That did not mean being perfect; it meant trying to do my best at all times. However, through nearly all stages of life I have been both a mentee and a mentor. Both roles have taught me that growth and wisdom are not limited to one side of the relationship.

Mentorship is not a one-sided exchange. It is an ongoing process of growth that requires

reflection and collaboration from both parties. While mentees gain support and direction,

mentors are also challenged to listen more closely, communicate more thoughtfully, and

continue developing themselves, and I have experienced this growth first hand.

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The Mentee Side

People often seek mentorship when they need guidance or are entering an unfamiliar

environment. My best example of this would be my freshman year of college. I entered a very competitive business school and was instantly overwhelmed. I was surrounded by people who were highly driven and just as capable as I was, if not more. It was intimidating because I felt like I was constantly comparing every move I made to my peers.

So, I entered a mentorship programme  where I was paired with a mentor who had the same major, similar career goals, and similar interests to me, and I couldn't have been more grateful for that experience. She had been through what I was experiencing and shared my perspective, so we saw ourselves in each other. She helped me find my confidence and footing in a male-dominated field, and it was the most pivotal experience I've had in university thus far.

Even after a formal mentorship ends, that kind of impact does not expire; you carry what you learned about yourself and the world forward.

The Mentor Side

When people think about the benefits of mentoring, they usually think of the mentee. However, whilst mentoring may focus on supporting mentees, they are not the only ones who grow.

After my experience as a mentee, I knew mentoring was for me and that I wanted to give back and support others the way my mentor had supported me. Therefore, I became both a one-to-one mentor and a group mentor within university business organisations.

This was my first formal mentoring role outside of my relationship with my little sister, and it was a learning curve. I had to find the balance between serious and comfortable and adjust my mentorship and communication styles to what each mentee needed, even when it wasn't explicitly asked for. Mentorship taught me to adapt to each individual person while keeping their goals in focus, especially when they struggled to see their own progress.

Being a mentor has given me a sense of fulfilment like no other. It's a direct, tangible way to impact your community, and it's proof to yourself that you have something real to give to the world.

Full Circle

Looking back, mentoring has shaped me most because it has never required me to be only a teacher or only a student. In every relationship, I have been learning while also finding

something of my own to offer. The guidance I received helped me become more confident, and mentoring others has challenged me to become more patient, adaptable, and intentional.

That is what makes mentoring so meaningful to me. Its impact is not limited to one

conversation, one programme, or one stage of life. The lessons continue to influence how you see yourself, how you support others, and how you move forward. Whether I am receiving guidance or giving it, mentoring leaves me more capable of becoming the person I want to be.

This is a large part of why interning with The Kids Network means so much to me. TKN is built on the same belief I've come to hold through my own experiences: that mentorship changes people, on both sides of the relationship. Being able to support that work, even from behind the scenes, feels like an extension of everything mentoring has taught me so far. It's given me the chance to see, on a much bigger scale, how much one consistent, caring relationship can do for a young person's confidence and sense of possibility. That's a mission I'm genuinely proud to be part of.

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