Aldona is a mentee on our 2021 mentoring programme. As she writes this blog, she is approaching the end of her four month mentoring journey with her mentor Jo (UBS). Here she shares her journey to Routes, her experience of mentoring, and why it is never too late to start achieving your goals.
“I heard about Routes through my therapist. I wanted to join, because this is something I needed right now. It was the right thing at the right time. As a woman, as a mother of a child stuck at home, I needed it. For 10 years, I have been in the UK, but I have never had the chance to do things. I was foolish enough to believe that my asylum would be accepted, but it wasn’t until now - so over a decade, I couldn’t do much.
Having a child and thinking about being positive about the future and seeing things from a different perspective is really useful. Seeing things from inside of you, in a humane way. I was very glad and excited - you can’t imagine. It was like when you get excited when you go to high school!
I never had a mentor before. Meeting my mentor for the first time was the best thing ever. It was like meeting a doctor - that’s how I felt. This is someone who can help me heal - the old me who was passive and felt left behind in this modern world.
The first time I met my mentor, I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out, because I never had an experience like this before. But from the first day she was so nice. We met on Zoom and she gave me the chance to speak. I have difficulties with focusing or remembering a lot of things. She gave me the chance to tell her. Maybe she just knew which questions to ask first.
Once I told her how I feel and where I stand and who I am, we just continued working together. We worked a lot - we have done 6 sessions so far. I want to do a course and Jo helped me to look at my options.
I even signed up for a course, but it was cancelled on the day - that was quite disappointing. I have small goals and big goals, and this was my small one. My mental health dropped and then I told her. Somehow, I could feel that she is feeling for me and then I was trying to tell her that I was going to be all right. Once I spoke to her, I was starting to feel that I can come back to this.
When you are in a different country, where you are surrounded with everything that is different, it is challenging. I felt not strong enough to do everything by myself. If I hadn’t joined this Mentoring Programme, I would have never thought I would be able to do something positive for myself.
My mentor is also learning from this, I think. She is learning how to deal with a different person, because it is just me and her… she is working with someone with a different mentality and different experiences.
When I was in high school, I left everything. I had issues - and I changed. Since then, my old me wasn’t there. But now having a mentor and thinking about getting back on track, it makes me believe that I have found myself again. I felt like that from the very beginning.
Maybe one day, I could also be able to be a mentor myself for someone. If I reach my first goal, and then my second, and if I learn the language a little bit better. I think it’s the best thing to do. It’s a pandemic and we are stuck at home. But for some people, even when it is not the pandemic, they might be stuck outside or stuck at home. There are so many people like me, who need mentors. It’s so useful to have someone to help you get back on track.
Maybe it would have been better if I met Routes earlier - but it is never too late!”
