The Basic Inventory.  As a dress rehearsal for working with your mentee, you may want utilize this “basic inventory” to gain a deeper understanding into the various influences in a young person's life—especially the stages in their development, the “settings and situations” and the “three variables.”

Rate on a spectrum (1-10) how “out of balance” is each of the following elements in a person's life from healthy to unhealthy—with ten  being “most in balance” and one as “most out-of-balance.”  To make the concept of equilibrium more tangible, you may want to utilize a weather metaphor.  For example, in each of these did your mentee) experience “headwinds” and “tailwinds” at these various stages in life. 

The Stages in Life:

• Ages 0-3: Under care of family
• Ages 4-5: Pre-School
• Ages 5-11: Elementary School
• Ages 11-13: Middle School
• Ages 14-18:  High School
• Ages 18-22: College

The Five Settings and Situations in a Person's Life (See the descriptions at the end of this inventory.)

• The Inner Settings and Situations—a student’s inner life
• The Intimate Settings and Situations—where unvarnished experiences are shared
• The Local Settings and Situations—the environments through which a student participates routinely
• The On-line Settings and Situations
• The Peripheral Settings and Situations—the environments that affect a student indirectly
• Other Settings and Situations

The Three Variables Affecting a Person's Life:

• Individuals
• Groups
• Situations (focus especially on those situations that repeat and compound themselves)

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Aurelio and His Mentors Story