1. How would you define empathy?
2. What inspires you to be a mentor and help college students during their recovery from alcoholism?
3. What is your point of view concerning the connection between mentorship and empathy?
4. When is it easier to be empathic?
5. When is it most challenging to be empathic in mentoring students with alcoholism and support their recovery efforts?
6. When you first began the mentoring relationship, how did you feel, and how did you convey empathy?
7. In what ways has empathy been helpful to your mentee?
8. How has your use of empathy or how has your development of empathy changed over time in your mentoring others?
9. How has mentoring impacted your mentee’s recovery journey?
10. In what ways was empathy most helpful to the client?
11. Do you have other comments you’d like to add about how your use of empathy was beneficial in your mentoring experiences?
Sample Answer
1. How would you define empathy?
Empathy is the ability to deeply understand and share the feelings, thoughts, and experiences of another person. It involves active listening, suspending judgment, and connecting with their emotional reality without imposing your own perspective. It’s not just feeling for someone (sympathy) but feeling with them, validating their struggles while supporting their growth.
2. What inspires you to be a mentor and help college students during their recovery from alcoholism?
I’m inspired by the resilience of young adults navigating recovery amid academic and social pressures. College is a critical time where identity, purpose, and independence are forged. Seeing students reclaim their potential—despite stigma and setbacks—fuels my commitment. I also believe mentorship creates a ripple effect: one person’s recovery can inspire peers, reduce campus stigma, and foster a culture of support. My own journey (or observations) with addiction’s impact on families and communities motivates me to pay it forward.