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This Week –
- Add our new GTL Discord account — GlobalTalentLink#2183
- Check out our New Linkers Madison, Sang, & John down below!!
- Linker Rebecca has been working hard to prepare a GTL Book Club. Stay tuned.
- Linker Lava has updated our Learner Sprint protocol to be more streamlined.
- Keep a lookout for our Lunar New Year celebration!
- Great job to Linkers Samantha and Chantal for meeting with new Learners this week!
- Good luck to Linker Jerson who will start with two new Learners this weekend!
- Linker Zhengyang has created some wonderful designs for our website. Thanks for all your work.
- Mental Health Awareness! Linkers Annie and Rebecca are passionate about mental health and have created a mental health-related newsletter!
- The GTL Newsletter is looking for submissions!!
- Send in blog posts, activities you’re involved in, poetry, art, interesting articles, cool opportunities; etc. Reply to this email with your ideas.
- LEARNERS—We’d love to hear from you about your experience with any GTL services you’ve been a part of! Respond to this email with anything you’d like to share ?
- Monthly GTL Community Events — keep a lookout for monthly programming and events for Learners, Linkers, and the greater GTL community!!
- Have suggestions or ideas about events you’d like to see? Let us know by responding to this email.
Last Week –
- Linker Maya welcomed THREE new Linkers through Linker orientation and the Biweekly team meeting!!
- Linkers Steven and Zhengyang worked together to redesign the website.
- Our GTLinkers continued to work on our Growth Companion program to make it as interactive and comprehensive as possible. Great effort!
- Linkers Jerson and Yukta worked together to rehaul our social media and Linkedin platforms.
- Linker Samantha started her first-ever Learner Sprint with a Learner. Congrats and good luck!
- Linkers came together to have a trial run of our Growth Map Co-design last week.
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Talent Connect
Our free Talent Connect program is a great place for Learners who want to get to know the GTL community!It includes group activities initiated by community members to pursue their passions and interests, such as mental health, video games, and investment, as well as our curated resources and activities, such as newsletters, blogs, webinars, book clubs, and holiday celebrations.
Click on the picture or the hyperlink for more information!
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Linker Mentor:
Madison G. Eagan
Hi everyone, my name is Madison and I’m from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Currently, I’m a sophomore at Harvard, where I study history and have taken classes in American, Latin American, and German history.
Fun fact: Part of my family is from Mexico and I am continuously working on improving my Spanish skills.
Passions: Outside of history and Spanish, I am interested in the arts, specifically ballet, tap dancing, painting, cinema, and classic American literature.
I look forward to meeting everyone in the GTL community! |
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Linker Mentor:
John Gehman
I recently graduated from Boston College with an A.B. in Philosophy. I am currently completing a non-profit fellowship on my gap year before attending Harvard University for a Master’s of Theological Studies next year.
Passions: reframing our relationship to knowledge, thinking, and ourselves; addressing and disrupting racism and oppression through community, solidarity, and healing justice; finding one’s authenticity in each moment; plant care; coffee tasting and -making; thrifting; exercise and body movement; music (indie, indie pop, pop, rap, choral)
Fun Fact: I have performed with Jennifer Hudson, John Williams, and Lionel Ritchie.
Why GTL?: I am interested in mentoring aspiring and budding learners to find their deepest and truest passions in whatever subject or topic they find interesting. I hope to ignite their creativity, curiosity, and “little spark[s] of madness” (according to Robin Williams) about themselves, their communities, and the greater world. |
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Linker Mentor:
Sang Nguyen
I’m currently a senior student pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science at the University of California – Davis.
Fun Fact: At the age of 17, after graduating from the local high school in Vietnam, I have been given an opportunity to study abroad in the US. Therefore, I was fortunate to expose to various cultural diversity and meet many different people with different backgrounds.
Why GTL?: I’m looking forward to being a part of GTL’s teams where I share my expertise and experience to build a strong connection with other Linkers and help our Learners pursue their dreams. |
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GTL Linker Spotlight:
Mentor Moments
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~ Linker Maya Kaelei Lewis ~
In spring of 2013, my mother enrolled me into a Japanese language and culture school in Los Angeles that I wanted to attend for a long time. On top of the enriching experience, I was fortunate enough to have as my Japanese proficiency gradually improved, my teachers truly shaped me into the person I am today. They taught me the importance of taking life one step at a time rather than rushing to the finish line which is something I continue to grasp. Their lifelong lessons of being patient and aware of the here and now were simple yet immensely impactful. Through my teachers, I learned that growth happens not only in the future but in the present as well.
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National Mentoring Month
January is National Mentor Month! To honor our mentors, we will highlight people in history and our personal lives who have been crucial in our development as well as how we can continue the legacy of great mentorship.
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Touched by an Angel
Bridget Watts’ Success Story
My mentor experience began with a big, scary announcement. I remember the whole Bradley Clan, my mom’s 12 younger siblings and all the cousins, were very excited when my mom walked into my grandparents’ kitchen with her Good News, “Sally-Ann Roberts is coming to our house…Sally-Ann Roberts is coming to our house!!!” As the news made its way to the back room where all the grandkids were, the shouts rang, “Bridget’s going to be on tv with the tv lady!” As the conversations went on about this “news lady” I became so overwhelmed and scared – I really didn’t want to meet her! But God’s divine plan was at work and how grateful I am to have met Sally Ann Roberts! Actually, after almost four decades, there are many names that fit my mentor, but I believe Angel is most fitting!
Being a mentor is not for everyone and it’s not always easy. Big Brothers Big Sisters is the organization Sally-Ann and I were matched through. Their mission in New Orleans is to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported, one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever. Sally-Ann was meant for mentoring. I recall myself as a lonely, frightened and broken young girl. Growing up, my maternal grandmother was my “Mother”, the one I went to for comfort and security. My actual family – Mom, 15-year-old pregnant sister, and 3 brothers, one with Downs Syndrome – rented and never owned a house or car. We moved about every six months, sometimes because my mom couldn’t pay the rent even while working two or, sometimes, three jobs. I rarely saw her!
Sometimes we moved because the owners wouldn’t do anything about the shabby conditions. I literally grew up with cockroaches, mice, and frogs coming into our houses. The living conditions were terrible at all of the eight houses we rented, so I would escape to “Mother’s house.” This is where most of my time was spent. My mom made sure every house rented was in walking distance to Mother’s house, until, one horrible day my mom set us down – once again – to say we were moving. But this time it was a distance from where I found my security and comfort. It was in the same city, but it would not be walking distance to my sweet grandmother. At 12 years old, my world just fell apart! But God’s divine plan was at work; my Angel was on her way.
To continue reading this mentoring story, click here >>>
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