LBN Alumni Interview: Maya Sato-Klemm

Source: Unsplash (@Tandya Rachmat)

We had the pleasure of speaking with Maya Sato-Klemm (she/they), a current Program Supervisor at Learning Buddies Network, about her journey in the organization! In this interview, she shares her experience being in various LBN roles, the lessons she learned along the way, and the advice she has for future mentors. Thank you to Maya for being part of the interview!

Can you start by introducing yourself?

Maya currently works as a Program Supervisor at LBN and plans to pursue a career in medicine! She first began her journey with the organization in 2020 as a reading mentor during the pandemic. Since then, she has taken on several roles, including a coordinator, Program Supervisor, and working in recruitment.

What made you want to become a mentor with Learning Buddies Network?

Maya expressed a strong passion for teaching and shared that she has experience coaching people of different ages as a swim coach and lifeguard. While the content being taught is different, she noted that the approach to teaching is quite similar, which is something she enjoys. She explains, “I really like kids and I feel like you can learn a lot from them, which is fun. I also like teaching and I find it an internally rewarding experience.” She also mentioned that LBN’s online programs provided her with the opportunity to become a mentor during the 2020 pandemic, although she would have joined the program regardless.

How has the program impacted you personally, seeing that you’ve had experience being in different roles?

As explained by Maya, “I think one of the biggest things I learned from LBN is problem-solving skills and also communication skills. In all of the various roles, you’re communicating with different people, and especially in recruitment and engagement, you have to take complicated concepts and break them down.” One highlight of Maya’s experience was developing an automated volunteer certificate program for LBN. Despite having no prior experience in this area, it showed her that she could take on new challenges, as there was a lot of self-teaching and problem-solving involved! 

Can you share an example from one of your roles of a time when you learned how to approach challenges innovatively?

“When I was first hired as a Program Supervisor, I was quite nervous because I didn’t know if I was qualified to be in a position where I had to be that person providing support at the top to the whole pod.” To feel more confident, Maya made sure that she was well-prepared by studying the LBN materials thoroughly. Believing in lifelong learning, she consistently worked to keep her knowledge up to date. She also prioritized maintaining open communication with coordinators and mentors, emphasizing being all in this together and learning together. For instance, when faced with questions she didn’t know the answer to, she was transparent and made the effort to find the correct information and follow up. “I think just being able to be transparent in that type of communication,” she reflected, “made the problem-solving much easier.” 

What was your experience like as a mentor?

“I was only a mentor for one term, so I only had one buddy before going into the coordinator role,” Maya recalled, “but my buddy was so sweet and I think about her still!” She explained that her buddy frequently asked questions, allowing them to explore topics in depth and engage in fun, related activities. Maya also expressed that the one-on-one format of LBN played a key role in helping them build a strong and meaningful bond.

How did you get ready for your sessions and was there a specific routine you had?

Maya described herself as “a person who likes to overprepare.” Since her buddy sessions were virtual, she reviewed all the materials on the shared drive in advance. Maya explained that thanks to her experience with creating lesson plans for swimming, she always tried to keep each session engaging and incorporated variety to ensure her buddy stayed interested and confident. She focused on balancing activities her buddy enjoyed with areas that needed improvement. “I think my buddy was on the same wavelength, so she was very attentive and we were able to always get through a lot of activities.”

What are your thoughts about the LBN community, for example, working with other coordinators and mentors or receiving staff support as a volunteer?

Maya shared that the staff was incredibly supportive. “When I was a mentor and I was more unfamiliar with the organization, I asked a lot of questions to my supervisor at the time. It was really helpful that they were very responsive, provided a lot of information and never made me feel bad for asking questions.” She explained that this experience made a lasting impression on her, and now, as a supervisor herself, she strives to offer the same level of support to new mentors. She also acknowledged that “it was hard to build a community in terms of me and the other volunteers because it was online and the very first iteration of the online sessions.” Lastly, she expressed appreciation for the program’s growth and the new additions that have since made it easier for mentors to connect with one another.

Were there moments when you struggled with motivation, and how did you handle that?

“I find that in everything I do, I love to give 110%, which I think can be very motivating in the beginning. However, in the past, this has led to burnout for me, which I think is very difficult to overcome. Specifically, with some of my positions at LBN, I was so motivated to do all of this change and give it my all. However, as I was doing that, I found that I didn’t have enough energy to take care of myself.” To combat this, she communicated her feelings to the other staff. She also reminded herself that “I can still do a really good job without burning out” and that “I can give 100% to my work by also giving 100% towards taking care of myself at the same time.” This experience taught her the importance of slowing down and maintaining a balance between work and personal well-being to prevent burnout.

What was it like transitioning from a volunteer to a staff role?

Maya served as a mentor for one term and a coordinator for two terms, volunteering for a total of three terms. Afterwards, she transitioned into the role of Program Supervisor, which overlapped with her coordinator position for one term. According to Maya, the most significant shift she experienced during the move from coordinator to Program Supervisor was “learning to take a step back and give the learning and leadership opportunities to the volunteers. Because I was previously in that position. I had to remind myself that this is the opportunity for the coordinators now to gain that experience that I had already gained and to become more confident in their leadership skills. If I had that, they need to have that too; it’s their time, so I just had to keep reminding myself to take a step back and just be there if they needed any help.” 

Looking back, what’s the most valuable lesson you learned as a mentor?

Maya shared that one of the most important lessons she learned is to be open to new experiences. She explained that each role she took on at LBN placed her in an unfamiliar environment, which pushed her to grow. An example she mentioned was her first time being in schools in person as a Program Supervisor. She recalled that, “at first, I was nervous because I felt unprepared. I had never done that before, but putting myself in that position and being able to do conflict resolution and problem-solve on the fly is such a good quality to have and to practice.” Experiences like these have given Maya “a lot of confidence to be able to do new things in the future.” 

Do you have any advice for current or future volunteers?

Maya’s advice for volunteers is that “this program is going to give you what you give to it, which I think applies to almost everything in life.” She mentioned that, during her time as a volunteer, she would share ideas with the staff and seeing those ideas implemented felt incredibly rewarding and motivating for her. Another word of advice she added was that “if you’re just doing the bare minimum and showing up, you’re only going to get that bare minimum back. I think you won’t have as much enjoyment compared to if you really try to commit and learn as much as you can. I think that becoming more involved and invested is something that will give you more and especially as a mentor, is something that your buddy will be able to pick up on.”

Thank you once again to Maya for participating in the interview and for the years you have given to LBN! We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours and we know you will do well!