Regional Coordinator, Aaron heads to the barber chair this Movember and shares some of his own personal mentoring journey and how to live with authenticity. He sheds light on the struggles faced by young males, delving into issues surrounding masculinities, anger, and the constraints of societal stereotypes.
“At the heart of what we do is mentor the young guys we work with. And this is the reason why I do the job that I do.”
“It’s 100% fulfilling. It’s pretty much life changing to be honest with you. The amount you learn from the program personally is outstanding. You think you are an adult and then you go and run a program designed for 15 year old boys and you realise that you don’t know half the stuff yourself.”
“You get to be the one to have those open conversations with them – for the first time most likely – and be the people to give them the space to open up and ask questions that they haven’t asked before or felt comfortable asking before.”
“As males you think everyone around you is sweet and they look like they are doing well but behind closed doors it might not be the case. Young men in Year 9 and 10 are probably some of the biggest larrikins but they are all facing the same things. Struggles with how to be a man or anger problems. It’s pretty astounding to see that these issues stem from that idea of what it means to be a man and how confined they all feel to those stereotypes.”
“The reality of a teacher – student relationship is there are certain things you just cannot talk about. But we [Top Blokes] really have the advantage that we can be super open with guys and they feel comfortable to speak about those things. “
“I think that something that plagued me as a younger person was the impression I had of others or fitting the mold of what other people thought I should be. The way you dress, the way you communicate, conforming to the community I was in. It has a big effect on you as a person if you are not really living who want to be.” “I always try to tell the boys, if you can’t be yourself and do the things you are passionate about then you won’t be as happy as you possibly can be if you are living to someone else’s expectations or standards.”
