The ODP mentorship process helps to guide new editors as they learn the sometimes complex process of categorizing sites. A couple of weeks ago, we heard from editor Laigh who called out his role as a mentor as one of the highlights of his experience. Today, we hear from Snooks, one of Laigh's pupils, about the experience of being mentored.

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My name is Snooks and I have been an editor for about six months.

I remember the day that I got the email indicating I had been accepted. I was so excited! The first time i logged in, looking at my dashboard, I was pretty nervous. It has links to here, there and everywhere. It's actually quite daunting at first. I didn't know what to do!

I spent some time looking at the forums and then I posted in the New Editors Thread. I conversed with a few editors and felt sort of ok. I was still very nervous, still unsure on what I could or couldn't do. I had a look through the category and added the sites from my Editors application, adjusted a few things on other sites and all appeared in order.

There was a thread in the New Editors Section, titled "Editors' School - Mentorship Program." Reading the posts I could see that you applied to the school and an experienced editor would then be assigned to assist you. The editor would be your Mentor, a person that you could contact and ask for help, a person with whom to discuss all aspects of editing. At this stage I lacked confidence and this opportunity suited me perfectly. I applied for the school and within minutes, editor Laigh offered to be my mentor. I had seen many of Laighs' posts, he seemed likeable and I jumped at the chance.

The program involved 30 sites being placed in a category especially for you. In my own time, I was to edit the titles and descriptions, indicate where I would place the sites or, in the case of sites that were not suitable, mark them for deletion and explain why. The best part was that I couldn't hurt anything, I couldn't break DMOZ as there are measures in place so that if I made a mistake, the site couldn't be lost. My Mentor could always find or fix the mistake. This made me feel much better and it took the pressure off me.

Over the next week or so, I edited the sites, communicated with Laigh way too often and finally, the day came when we were both free and he was going to do the review of my sites.

I remember being at my computer in Sydney Australia, Laigh at his in Scotland.....we spoke on live chat and he said he was starting.........I was really, really nervous.

The first site came up:

(Site Name) the words beside it said "ready to go live."

This was followed by 10 or 15 more, at 1 minute intervals.

On the last one, he seemed to take eternity. I waited and waited and remember sending a message saying "Go on....Push the button! You know you want to!"

The message came Back "RAFL - ready to go live"

He detected one or two that needed minor changes such as a tweak on the description or a spelling mistake. But that was great news.......out of the 30 sites, 26 were live! The other 4 needed minor changes and then those sites would also go live.

I was delighted. I knew then that I really could edit. I really could evaluate and review a site and be trusted to ensure compliance with guidelines. This was confirmed when a Meta Editor granted me permissions to edit in a higher level category, that very same night. From my first cat with 25 sites, I now had a cat with 300 sites. I felt 10 feet tall!

I have now done 5600 edits and I have permission to edit in a category with thousands of sites. I know that without my Mentor and without the program, I would never have gained the confidence I now enjoy. Laigh and I still communicate often, I still ask him for advice and I highly value his opinions. The difference is that we now work together as fellow editors, rather than as Mentor and Student.

The Mentor Program instilled me with confidence. I do feel that without the program, I would not have advanced like I have. I may well have been too nervous to become involved enough, to feel comfy and actually enjoy editing. And I do! I really enjoy editing.

Thank you for letting me share this with you.