I remember hearing about Mosaic when they first setup in Birmingham about 5 years ago. My friend runs a Children’s Choir and was asked to perform there, which she did. It sounded good and I kept thinking I would get in touch, but never got round to it.
I heard about Mosaic again when someone on a course mentioned it about 3 years ago, and said I should get involved. I did mean to, but never did anything about it.
A while back, some friends at work were talking about how much they enjoyed their mentoring with Mosaic, how rewarding it was, and how they felt they were making a difference…
That’s when it finally sunk in! I needed to do this! I wanted to do this, so what was I waiting for? Mosaic weren’t just going to come and find me; I had to let them know I wanted in!
I asked my friend for the details, emailed Mosaic West Midlands and actually did complete and return the application form they sent me…Only took me about 5 years in total – not bad eh?
Then the universe conspired against me. I obviously didn’t want it badly enough :). The training dates clashed with other commitments, so I kind of forgot about Mosaic again. It happens all the time doesn’t it? You get really fired up about something, you can see yourself making the world a bit better for someone, and get really excited about getting involved in something good – and then it doesn’t happen, so you just tell yourself it wasn’t meant to be.
So when I got the next training dates email, I was all ready to reply but couldn’t do that date either. A friend invited me to an end of year Mosaic celebration event and I was so inspired and motivated by the success stories of the mentors and it got me fired up again!
You know when you think that something just isn’t gonna happen for you? For some reason, no matter how much I planned on becoming a Mosaic Mentor, it just wasn’t happening and I couldn’t do the next 2 dates either.
Then a few weeks ago I got an email with the next and final training dates for this year and I told myself there and then that this was my time to do it. I tapped the date into my phone calendar, replied to the email and was delighted to speak to Annalisa a few days later to confirm my place.
Wow! Sounds like a lot of work to just get started, doesn’t it?? But most of the ‘work’ was about me not being ready to become a Mosaic Mentor…until this February this year. Maybe deep down, I thought I couldn’t do it or I wouldn’t be as good as the other mentors. There are some very high profile mentors involved at all levels of Mosaic – could little old me really make as much difference to school children as them?
A lot of us hold back from stepping up and getting involved in things that can make us grow. Something like mentoring might challenge you, get you thinking differently and take you out of your comfort zone – great right?? And a bit scary, sometimes…and scary can be great too!
See fear and excitement are quite similar, and sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between the two.
I believe February 2013 was MY time to motivate and inspire young school girls and their mums as part of Mosaics Primary Mentoring Programme. I’m at stage of my life where I really believe in myself, where I now appreciate my value and what I have to offer to the world and I’m more than happy to share my gifts, skills, experiences and smiles with Mosaic mentees, parents, mentors and anyone else! This was the right time for me to become a Mosaic Mentor.
When will be the right time for you? Is it now? Do you believe that you can help to motivate young people as part of a supportive and committed team of like-minded people? If you do, then get in touch and get started on your Mosaic journey.
You can visit the Mosaic website for more information about primary school mentoring.
It has been my pleasure to support Mosaic's work. Having seen at first-hand their work, it is clear that Mosaic is making a significant contribution to improving the life chances of young people growing up in tough communities. I would encourage business leaders to get behind Mosaic to help them...