Working Toward the Future

Over the past few months, I participated in a county-wide high school mentorship program. My responsibility in the program was to work with a high school junior for a total of 20 hours to show him a glimpse of what the fields of finance and accounting look like.

I looked forward to this opportunity from the first phone call I received from the program director. I had also participated in a mentorship program in high school, and the experience was invaluable. My mentor was an attorney, and he was great at his job. He invited me to sit in on client meetings, do my own research in the firm’s law library, and go to court to watch how things play out. I enjoyed it but learned that it was not the path I wanted to pursue. I hoped to be able to give back a learning experience like I had once been given.

The very first meeting I had with my mentee reminded me just how wide open the possibilities are within the finance and accounting fields! Since my mentee didn’t have any prior knowledge or preferences, we started with some basic debit and credit transactions and then moved on to taxes and eventually looked at how taxes tie into financial planning.

I hope that the mentorship experience was helpful to my mentee. I know it was good opportunity for me to look at what I do on a daily basis with fresh eyes.

This morning I attended a breakfast for everyone involved in the mentorship program, where I got to hear a presentation by my mentee about his experience as well as presentations by twenty-some other students about their various experiences. I realized that this was also a unique way to gain experience working with the next generation of young leaders–accountants, engineers, teachers, nurses, lawyers.

In a career field that is constantly changing because of technology and regulation, this was a good reminder that the future of our business–and our world–lies with this next generation of leaders and their fresh ideas. Our willingness to work side by side with them will help everyone succeed!