Time to be a mentor

     For my University 101 class I have to choose to be a mentor at a local middle school or participate in a literacy program that helps bring awareness to reading throughout South Carolina.  Well I chose to do the mentoring program because I felt that it would be a great opportunity to really help someone since you work one-on-one with the same child over the course of several weeks.  Also having the background of working at the YMCA as a counselor I already have experience with working with children and really connecting with them.  Mentoring just really gives a child the opportunity to grow with the help of someone and not have to worry about being criticized. 
     Today we went to our different service sites to become acquainted with the programs we would be working with.  My mentoring program takes place at a middle school about a mile from campus and many of us in the program including myself already visited the middle school so we did not have to go back.  My previous visit to the site included getting to know our mentor leaders who will be there to help guide us as mentors and a quick tour of the school.  We were shown the room where most of our mentoring will take place and given examples of how a mentor may interact with their child especially the first day when the mentor and mentee are both nervous.  I feel like this will be a great experience with helping a sixth-grader transition into middle school.  I can give them helpful advice that I wish I had known, and really watch them become more comfortable in their new school environment over the course of many weeks.  I also think it will help me transition into college because much of the advice I am giving to my mentee I can apply to my own life here at school.  The only downside of the mentoring program is that I do not know ahead of time who my mentee will be but will show up next Monday and meet them.  Hopefully they will be a good kid and not be difficult to mentor, but you never know.  I just hope that I get a "good egg" out of all the kids in the program. 
     By the end of this program I hope that I can clearly see a difference in my mentee's life.  I want to be able to tell that he/she has gained a new perspective on their life as a sixth-grader and feels more comfortable at their new school and ready for the next half of the year.  I hope that I may also gain a new perspective on my life and also feel more comfortable as a college freshman.  Hopefully both my mentee and myself can gain something positive and useful from this experience.