Blog 25: Mentorship

Literal
-mentorship log
-Antoinette Contreras (or Monique Jaime), 626-965-4000

Interpretive
The most important thing I've gained from my experience at Yoganette was being able to communicate with others. When I first started as a receptionist, I had to go the extra inch to service the students and make sure they had a great experience at the studio. It was weird for me to talk to people who weren't my own age, so I was a little shy but eventually I was able to overcome my fear. Usually I'm pretty comfortable enough to speak to people my own age, but it was definitely different to be able to communicate to people of superiority or higher respect. Communication is a big deal here at the studio. I actually had some communication problems with my mentors about my scheduling. I usually am scheduled to come in on Wednesdays and Sundays but due to my work schedules, I would come in on Saturday morning instead of Wednesday. I failed to let Monique know which caused so much confusion. Thankfully she was very understanding which made me realize that communication is pretty much vital in any relationship, professional or personal.

Applied
Although I wasn't able to have a hands-on experience with teachers as they were teaching classes, I was able to have amazing one-on-one conversations with Antoinette, Kellie (Hicks), and Monique. These three are all teachers at Yoganette who are always willing to help me out on my senior project even though I didn't have access to any yoga related activities. Instead, while classes were going on, I would talk to them about my essential question, my interviews, research, and any other yoga related questions I had. Like I said, I might not have had any hands-on experience by shadowing a teacher, but every conversation I've had during my shift at Yoganette was full of quality and substance.