Reflective Essay: As I Carry As A Gates Scholarship

As a Gates scholar, one of the main values that I carry is to give back to my community. Therefore, I volunteered as an ambassador in order to spread the word about the scholarship, initially volunteering at my very own high school. In being an ambassador, I found that my position transitioned from being a scholar to becoming a mentor. I was expected to help applicants apply and analyze their scholarships essays which I had never done before. Therefore, having written similar essays myself, I decided to attempt it. As unfamiliar as I was with this task it did not stop me from diving in blindly but ambitiously. I spent a considerable amount of time mentoring and revising two applicants’ essays. On the first weekend working on their essays, they struggled on how to begin, …show more content…
At times that they were clueless, I remind them of how far they have written.When they were finished editing their essays, I created a checklist of criteria that the essays had met. After three months of intensive work, my efforts finally paid off as my mentee Ahmed was awarded the Gates scholarship. I realized that although this task seemed daunting at first, I learned to brush aside conflicting thoughts and focus on the bigger goal. In doing so, I trusted my instincts and my mentorship abilities because I saw progress in my mentees’ work. Upon assisting my mentees, I learned some crucial mentorship skills. From this experience, I was be able to learn how to give constructive criticism and help them help themselves, instead of giving free answers. I also learned to to motivate my mentees to finish their applications and work as a team through effective communication skills. Lastly, I came to value the relationships I had developed and the learning journey we were on together despite the