Update: Mentor Me, Matey!

Should I have been better prepared? He asked me what I wanted from him over the next six months. I said, "Errrr....Ummmmm....ehhhhhh." There we were, chatting over coffee, and I had no idea what to tell my new mentor. I don't know exactly what I'm looking for out of this whole thing. Clarity? Networking? Sure, both of those things. I want it all. I don't know how to go about it, though. I've never been mentored before and I've never mentored another. How do these things work, especially in the work place?

I walked into the basement cafeteria at the Castle, craning my neck in as many degrees of the 360 degree spectrum as my neck allowed. I saw a man in khakis and a tropical print shirt standing at the coffee machine. I looked at him, he looked at me. Neither one of us said anything. I walked closer and gave him that are-you-the-person-I'm-supposed-to-meet look. He reciprocated. I apparently had nothing brilliant to say because my mouth stayed closed and I continued to look inquisitively in his eyes. He broke the silence. "Are you Gillian?" Yes! This was the guy, my mentor. So now the awkward get-to-know-you conversation could start.

'Twas a pleasant coffee talk. No awkwardness to be had for miles. Well, I felt awkward when he asked me at the end of the conversation to describe my goals for this mentor relationship. I had no idea. Still don't, as a matter of fact. (Any suggestions would be very welcome.) I told him I want to learn more about what he does every day at work because I love to read and write and would enjoy incorporating that into my career. Ho hum, I don't know. I told him I haven't taken much initiative in my career thus far and I didn't really know where to start. Fear not, he said...in my mind. In reality he said something along the lines of, well you've just started your career and the fact that you're in this program so soon after coming here speaks well for your future. Okay, I accept.

You know, I recently finished this book called Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. It's this fascinating book about how our notions of pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps success are flawed. We Americans like to think every great success is attributable to individual merit and gumption. In reality, that's not the case. "Outliers", or unusually great successes, are people with impressive smarts and intelligence and work ethic, but they don't succeed in a personal vacuum. They are born at the right time in the right place and are luckily associated with the right people so that they are in the prime position to become the best at what they do. For more information, please read the book. You may not agree with everything - I didn't - but it's certainly food for thought. Plus, it is written from a sociological perspective and that is just pure awesome in my opinion. What does all this have to do with me, you might ask? I don't think I'm going to be any sort of great outlier or head of my field, especially because I don't even really know what my "field" is going to be in the long run. I do think, however, that I'm well positioned to figure all that out. Just think, I came to the Smithsonian at the right time. Within the past year we have hired a new Secretary for the Institution who is cleaning up around the place and pushing the Institution into a new era of transparency, efficiency and productivity. It's a good time to be working here. Other SI employees have endeavored to pilot a mentoring program in the past but were told there wasn't enough interest or weren't enough resources or were thwarted in some other way. How convenient that just as I finish my first year of work here there is a pilot program for professional mentoring that is accepting applicants who have worked at SI for at least a year. How providential that though I apparently don't care enough about professional development to take the initiative to apply for such programs without prompting (I deleted the informational email about the program within two minutes of reading it), I have colleagues who are looking out for me and want to encourage me in my career growth (my co-assistant gift registrar forwarded me the email with a note that nudged me to apply.)

My point is not that I'm an outlier or super special. My point is that I'm blessed. I have no idea what I'm doing here or where I'll go, but I have people in my life who are encouraging me and pointing me in the right direction. I hope my relationship with my mentor will be similar. I have great hopes for the next six months. I have no clue how I want to go about progressing as a mentee or learning or whatever, but with help I'll figure it out. I'm a fortunate person put in a position for maximum growth. That's pretty humbling. It's also pretty exciting.

What I Do Here...

So this is where I work. Aren't I just the luckiest gal? It's the Smithsonian Castle, and it's right smack in the center of the National Mall. As I walk out the front door everyday on my way home, I look to my right and see the Capitol building, then I look to my left and start walking towards the Washington Monument (mainly because that's the direction of my metro stop.) I get the best view, and I haven't tired of it yet.

As for what I do in that glorious building...well, that won't take much explaining. I am the most recent addition to the Gift Registrar team in the central development office of the Smithsonian Institution (a.k.a. SI). I am known to some as Assistant Gift Registrar - Finance. To most others I'm known as, hey-Amy's-not-here-so-I-guess-I-can-ask-you-this-question. Amy's my boss, by the way. The current Gift Registrar team consists of the head GR, and two Asst. GR's. We are responsible for recording all contributions to all our museums and research centers in the central database. So basically I enter gifts into the system. I sit in my cubicle, plug in my iPod (yes, I said "plug in" because the poor thing's so old the battery doesn't stand alone anymore) and type away. I also help generate monthly reports and other exciting things like that. So there you have it.

Honestly, I really like my job. I'm learning a lot about what constitutes gifts and what the IRS will and will not accept as tax deductible contributions. There are so many regulations, I haven't begun to understand them all. This job is a great education for me, and I feel like I'm doing something productive for a great institution. Now is that job satisfaction or what???

So where is this job going to take me? Don't ask me questions I can't answer. I have no idea. But you and I know what I do now and that's an accomplishment in and of itself.