There comes a time when we need someone to talk to about our problems. We seek parents' help, friends’ advice, a senior’s or a faculty’s guidance to sort the issues. The advice may be valuable and helpful, but the problems often do not get resolved entirely. It happens because we seek information, not from the right person. It will usually be a piece of incompetent advice from someone who has no experience, no matter how senior the person is. A young person, be it a school-going student or a college-going, will face day-to-day challenges that are new and sometimes critical for their proper development. Being a student, one has to make significant decisions in their life, such as what subjects to choose, which skills to develop, finding interests/hobbies, emotional help, etc.

Mentoring is essential for the development of a student. In many ways, mentoring makes students feel that they matter in this vast universe. The student receives special attention from an experienced person or a mentoring group. The mentor listens to the student in a one-on-one conversation. It is such a powerful exercise that significantly impacts students' lives. The student learns from a mentor who has the experience and shares specific details to navigate the issue. The conversation is often exciting and yet enlightening. The mentor tends to share their approach to a similar problem.

One of the crucial scopes of mentoring is working on how to achieve the goals. The ultimate goal of mentoring is the students' development but with a lot of hand-holding. The foundation of mentoring lies in understanding the issues of students and then working to resolve them. Goal setting is one of the tools that mentors use to tackle the problem. The mentor sets goals for the mentee. If done in the right spirit, the potential of such exercise is enormous. The students' actions for achieving the goal are now accountable. The mentor constantly reminds and motivates the students to work on the plan.

Another profound area where mentoring helps the student is social and emotional development. The students often carry stigmas or preconceived perceptions about matters in general. These stigmas can be a hurdle in the growth of a student. Often the case, the students need appropriate guidance to overcome any such preconceived notion. The mentor can easily bust the bubble. Words of encouragement, unbiased advice, and accurate and honest guidance can be a big step in their development.

Unfortunately, the practice of student mentoring has not taken off. Much has to be done at all levels of the education system before the students gain from the mentoring programs.