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Mentorship has been defined largely as the capacity to hold one’s hands until they are steady. For those that love the dictionary definitions, according to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, mentorship is the act of providing advice and help to a less experienced person over time.
And I would not hesitate to recognize that whatever your definition the important thing is that change must occur and in my opinion I would advocate for positive change. This comes to my mind as the world celebrates mentorship day on 17th of January 2025 and every other seventeenth day of January since 2016 as an extension of National Mentoring Month, which was launched in 2002. This year the celebration centered around the theme of mentoring for a better world.
When I started the George Wachiuri School of Mentorship, it had been an offshoot of a myriad meetings with professionals, students, chamas, church members and even friends to see how we could make our lives better! For me it was also a learning curve to understand what is the meaning of leadership and how it can impact the rest of the world.
I looked back at my own life which is well documented in my memoir Soaring Like an Eagle and following that with one of the many mini-documentaries that I have been mentioned in including a specific one that was aired during the launch of my latest book After the Plunge. I specifically remember my times in school whether primary, secondary, university and higher education where I desired a mentor and promised that if I ever had the opportunity I would not let it go.
In celebrating my mentorship journey, I marvel at the human spirit and how humans have capacity to conquer adversity far, wide and beyond. But I keep wondering how we can multiply the few people who have the time and experiences that can shape those looking up to them? This is why this year I applaud the peer to peer mentorship – reshaping the landscape of mentorship and student empowerment.
The new revolution is taking root in different universities including my alma – The University of Nairobi and my son’s university, Strathmore among others. Students are mentoring their fellow students and together creating profitable support systems.
The student leaders in these institutions are doing more by connecting students to opportunities they have experienced in their early years. This is especially exciting for students in university who may wonder where to place their next attention or which choices to make in a particular space. The result is that peer mentored students perform better, are more satisfied with their campus experiences and are able to retain much of their learning processes from the peers.
And to not celebrate such a move would not be wise – so an ode to peer mentorship and a toast to all mentors worldwide on World Mentorship Day 2025.
Dr. Wachiuri is a celebrated author with three books to his name, including “Soaring like an Eagle,” “Unleash Your Full Potential,” and “After The Plunge.” He is also a philanthropist, motivational speaker, lecturer, and church elder.
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