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Originally Posted by koke616  I think that is totally awesome and I truly hope you succeed. 
I am definitely interested. A mentor would be a great help to me, as there is so much I intend to learn and do. How exactly does your mentoring service work? |
The actual plan varies from individual to individual. But here's a sketch of how things proceed:
1. First, the mentee "works". The mentee must convince me that his cause/ goal/ dream is a significant one. The definition of significant is by necessity very loose. I think this is a critical first step towards creating independence of thought. Ask what you can give to the world! I think society does operate this way.
2. The mentee comes up with a preliminary plan of attack.
2.1 We discuss it, revise it and implement it.
Since my initial attempt at mentoring is going to have a heavy academic bent, I will focus on certain strategic questions. These questions will be general as well as subject specific. The aim is to help the mentee be more aware of the learning process.
Take the subject of math for example. Beginner students may choose to memorize certain formulae. My approach would be to encourage the mentee to rely on derivation and indeed get an appreciation of the relative position of the subject matter in a global context.
The mentee can expect to be doing a lot of work.
Modes of communication:
Email
Phone
Individual meetings (clearly, this depends on location)
Expected time commitment (in terms of phone conversations, email, etc. Excludes time spent on "homework")
Initially: ~90-120min/ week
Later: ~60min/ week
Regards,
-Dennis