Abstract
Last Sunday afternoon I was at an auction out in the Boston Mountains, standing in line to get a bidder’s number while the man in front of me quarreled about giving information. Then the man behind me said, “I know my name but I don’t know who I am.” I feel a bit like that. It’s my name in the program but am I really the person being honored. I have spoken of this momentous event in my life as being the result of a conspiracy among friends. There is no way that I can thank them adequately for their efforts or the National Council for Geographic Education for selecting me. I am awed and humbled, two conditions rarely applied to me. Mentor appears in Greek mythology as the loyal friend and advisor of Odysseus and the teacher of his son, Telemachus. The word today refers to a wise, loyal advisor, as well as teacher. Henry Brooks Adams, in The Education of Henry Adams (1907) states: “A teacher affects eternity, he can never tell where the influence stops.” We all know of Bill Gates, the computer entrepreneur. On October 12, 1997, he is quoted as saying: “Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.” Mentor means more than a purveyor of facts. It refers to someone who helps prepare us for life, who guides us in developing ethical principles and moral values, someone we look up to as friend, teacher and counselor
Recommended Citation
Maxfield, O. Orland
(2004)
"Of Mentors and Mentoring,"
The Geographical Bulletin: Vol. 46:
Iss.
2, Article 3.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/thegeographicalbulletin/vol46/iss2/3