I remember in 2000 when I was in 200L, one of my secondary school classmates was in 100L at that time.

Because I was ahead of him, I taught him some of the subjects I had passed which he was also doing. His first and second semester results were out, and he passed with exceptionally good grades.

Then the devil made him to ask me for my grades for the same subjects. When he saw that he got better grades than I did, he began to mock me.

I remember vividly his exact words. He said, “how can a student get better grades than his teacher”. He then added that since his results were better than mine, there was no point learning from me. I reminded him that when I did the subjects, I didn’t have a mentor, but he kept laughing at me.

“No problem”, I said.  So, I allowed him to study on his own. When I heard the results were released, I went to his department to check how he performed. Interestingly, he was also there in front of the notice board, but he didn’t realise I was standing behind him.

I almost burst into laughter as I watched him use his pen repeatedly to draw a line from his name to the grades, and each time he arrived at the grades: ‘F’ ‘E’ ‘F’ ‘D’ ‘E’ ‘E’ ‘C’ ‘D’ ‘F’ for the corresponding subjects. At this point, I cleared my throat and he turned around, with tears rolling down his cheeks, he whispered “O boy oooo”.

Then I jokingly asked him, “how did the student perform without the teacher’s help?” This humbled him and he came back for lessons. Subsequently his grades improved.

We have seen this kind of situation happen on many occasions even in organisations. Your boss mentors you and when you start getting the praises, you begin to feel as though it is your sole effort.

Following my experience with my friend, I would like to advise that whether your mentee recognises your effort or not, please do not stop mentoring (except if they refuse). Their success whether they agree or not, is the outcome of your mentorship. If you hoard knowledge, when you die, your knowledge will go with you to the grave. However, when you share knowledge, the impact of your mentorship will outlive you.