It takes bravery on the part of both the mentor and mentee going into a new relationship. Both people can be unsure of the relationship, how they will get along, and what will happen with their time together. See this mentor’s perspective of entering her mentoring relationship, but she chose to be brave despite her fears, which allowed her to make a difference for her mentee. “R and I met during a mentor/mentee Match-up Event. It was a struggle at first getting her to talk. She sat turned a way from me and stared intently at the floor. She didn’t know it, but I was just as intimidated by her as she was of me. I have participated in mentoring programs before, but this was a different scene. My mentee looked like a gang member. I tried not to stare, but on her left wrist was the word “THUG,” and on her right wrist was the word, “GIRL.” I’ve seen tattoos before, but these looked like a home job. I had no clue as to what “THUG GIRL” meant. I didn’t ask, either. Not only that, she talked like a gang member. Her conversation was peppered with references to her “homies.” She mentioned that she had two boyfriends. One is currently attending Berkeley. When I was able to pull her into the conversation, I saw she had a beautiful smile and a great laugh. “Toward the end of the evening, R’s parents came to pick her up. I had been told by the Mentor Site Coordinator that her mother was concerned about her being matched with a Caucasian woman, so when I met them, I tried to look as responsible as possible. They were the nicest people! We chatted in the lobby, and I told them a little about myself. I told them I was fanatical about Indian food and was hoping that R could teach me how to cook. They both laughed at this. It was a good meeting. As I was preparing to leave later in the evening, the Mentor Site Coordinator came over and mentioned that he was glad R had shown up for the Match-up Event.”
Posted on: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 16:50:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015