The three core competencies of the mentor role are "understanding oneself and others, interpersonal communication and the development of others" (Hesketh et al pp 4). Since high school students have less experience, the author has used this role continually in an effort to develop his students and guide them through their learning experiences. According to Hesketh et al. the author must determine his or her strengths and weaknesses so he or she can maximize them. “Your weaknesses can be overcome through personal development” (Hesketh et al. 1997 pp 51). By researching everything he could about the Health Science Technology program, the author was able to teach with confidence because he had reduced the weaknesses he had in his knowledge. As the author researched the role of the mentor, he came across what he thought was an interesting article in the January 11, 2004 edition of Parade magazine, which is part of the Dallas Morning News. The article had a caption “Thanks to a mentor.” As the author read the article, he stated how volunteer mentors change lives. The article stated that the Harvard Mentoring Project met with numerous celebrities and conducted interviews with them to determine whether they had received mentorship or not. The article also stated that January is National Mentoring Month (Parade, January 11, 2004). Mentoring was used by the author to assist high school students seeking healthcare careers. Helping students determine their strengths and learn their areas of interest helped the author develop others. As a school teacher, the author found it essential to mentor his students. The three core competencies for the facilitator role are “team membership, participatory decision making and conflict management” (Hesketh et al 1997 pp 3). The author used this role to encourage his students to participate in clinical rotations and be team members. Allowing students to participate in clinical rotations and recognize their roles helped them understand how to build and be part of a team. High school students are not always willing to participate due to peer pressure; this was very challenging for the author. This is something the author learned took a lot of work with some students. “We must all take responsibility for building teams and maintaining cohesion.