My Journey To Becoming A Youth Mentor
Like so many people, COVID gave me a lot of extra time to reflect on my life. I was 35, single, living alone, and working in a job that didn’t light me up. On the outside, I seemed happy - I was always the fun, upbeat one with a smile on my face, ready for a laugh. But that time to slow down helped me see that my "happiness" was just a mask. I had always believed that if I kept a positive attitude, avoided negativity, and just got on with things, then I’d be happy. But deep down, I realised I wasn't.
The lockdowns gave me an opportunity to focus on some personal development, and that’s when my world opened up. I started stripping away the masks that I’d been wearing and uncovered layers of myself that I didn’t even know existed. It was really scary and so unfamiliar but it was also really liberating. Tapping into my actual thoughts and feelings felt so weird. I had been living on such a superficial plane for so long! Throughout doing all of this, I realised how much I’d been people pleasing and neglecting my own needs. My self-esteem, self-worth, and self-confidence were so low, and I was living in fear, worrying about what others would think and say if I actually showed up as my authentic self.
Once I saw all of this clearly, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I started caring less about what others thought and I began to see my value. I started treating myself with the love, care and respect that I had been lacking. I cut out toxic relationships and behaviours that didn’t serve me and I spent time discovering who I really was. And for the first time in my 35 years, I felt ready to actually just be myself.
This made me think about what it would have been like if I had known all of this when I was younger. How different would my life have been if I’d had the tools and support to understand myself, build my self-esteem, and love who I was during my teen years?
Growing up, I had a loving family, but like most kids from the '80s, there wasn’t much talk about self-esteem or mental well-being. Those concepts just weren’t part of the conversation. But reflecting on how challenging my teenage years were, dealing with the usual teen stuff of hormonal changes, peer pressure, friendship dramas, parents separating etc. it became so clear to me how much young people could benefit from having support in this area.
During my teen years, I had no idea what self-esteem even meant, let alone how to build it and I realised that I wanted to change this for today’s youth. I want to help young people develop the tools they need to navigate this really intense phase of life. To understand their worth, build their self-confidence, and most importantly, love who they are right now. Not wait until they are 35 and pretending to be happy.
I started thinking about how I could help young people and fortunately I stumbled across the Youth Mentor Training by Shine From Within, and it felt like the planets had aligned. Amanda Rootsey, the incredible founder, put together a program that offered everything I needed to get started. I jumped into the training, and it exceeded all my expectations.
Since then, life has thrown a few curveballs, and my journey as a youth mentor has been slower than I imagined. The work I have done to date in this field has been so fulfilling and for the first time in my life, I’ve found something I’m passionate about and that I can’t let go of. I’m excited about continuing to make an impact and support young people on their journey to self-confidence and self-love.
The more I understand myself, the more ideas I get about how we can help young people feel empowered and valued. And I can’t wait to bring those ideas to life.