MENTORING...THIS COULD BE THE START OF A BEAUTIFUL RELATIONSHIP
"Oh my goodness! The little sister I've always wanted? Rock on!"
Silly as it sounds, these were the thoughts that were running through my head before, during and after my interview today. I met with the program director for Byrne Urban Scholars to discuss the ins and outs of their mentoring program, and in case you haven't noticed, I'm more than a little thrilled about the upcoming opportunity.
Ok, ok...I might have been getting ahead of myself just a tad by thinking that I'll automatically have this "big sister, little sister" relationship with my future mentee. I get ahead of myself sometimes. I know this. It comes from a good place though, so I'll go with it...
Anyway, I have four friends who are current mentors for Byrne Urban Scholars. Here's one...check her out sometime. She's a riot, and an honest-to-goodness deep down good person. Anyway, I simply can't wait to be a part of this community. I can't wait to make a difference. I can't wait to help a high school student succeed (hopefully!). And before you toss your cookies because of all this bright-eyed cheesiness, I'll just say that I simply can't wait to meet my future mentee!
MAKING CONNECTIONS
I know I won't be mentoring for a while, since the mentor / mentee matches for the upcoming school year haven't even been made yet. Until then though, my goal is to actively SPREAD THE WORD that Byrne Urban Scholars is LOOKING FOR MENTORS! Please visit the the Web site if you are interested at all to learn more.
Here are some facts to get you started:
- One student drops out of high school every nine seconds in America.
- In Denver, 37% of all high school students drop out.
- Colorado ranks 49th out of 50 states with the highest percentage of teens that are high school drop outs.
- Byrne Urban Scholars graduates one student at a time. This year they have 20 students graduating from high school and heading on to college. Many of these students are the first in their family to finish high school. Their mentors have played a huge role in them graduating!
RIGHT ON, MAN!
Ok, If I have any male readers out there, please know that male mentors are in HIGH demand. There simply aren't enough. Just thought I'd plant the bug... THANK YOU! TELL ME YOUR STORY
Do YOU have a mentor? Are you a mentor for someone else? Did you have a mentor when you were growing up?
I would love for you to post a comment and say a few words about your experience. In other words...any advice for a future mentor? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Well, more mentoring stories (vaguely stated to protect identity, of course) to come this summer and fall. As always, thanks for reading!
-DTL
2 comments:
I was a big sister to a little sister back when I was in HS. It was a very cool experience and she taught me some neat things about her perspective on life. I think you'd be an awesome mentor and a mentee would be very luck to get matched with you!
I didn't know that you were a big sister -- cool! Thanks for being the only one to share comments on my posts. It means a lot!
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