Growing as a Person Through Mentoring
My abilities to empathize and connect with others have certainly been strengthened.
The proof is in the pudding. This is a sample from one of my journal entries, written after all future mentoring was cancelled because of COVID-19:
"Diego let our group know that Ms. Brown and teachers had been notified about our inability to show up to Lewisdale. I expressed my concern about the students themselves also being notified as to our whereabouts and why we were absent. During training, I remember hearing a mentor mentioning missing one session. When he went back to mentoring the next session, the students expressed guilt and somehow felt as though his absence was their fault. I definitely would not want this to happen to my mentees. Diego stated that he would be sure to communicate this concern the next time he spoke with Ms. Brown, which made me feel better about the whole incident."
"Diego let our group know that Ms. Brown and teachers had been notified about our inability to show up to Lewisdale. I expressed my concern about the students themselves also being notified as to our whereabouts and why we were absent. During training, I remember hearing a mentor mentioning missing one session. When he went back to mentoring the next session, the students expressed guilt and somehow felt as though his absence was their fault. I definitely would not want this to happen to my mentees. Diego stated that he would be sure to communicate this concern the next time he spoke with Ms. Brown, which made me feel better about the whole incident."
Supported by the quote above, mentoring provided me a direct opportunity to strongly care about other people and their lives. I chose this quote because it proves I was truly doing the most possible to support others. Prior to my experience as a mentor, I probably would have not gone out of my way to ensure the best optimal experience for the mentees. However, by injecting myself into my mentees' lives, I made their growth one of my top priorities, and truly felt a strong sense of wanting to support their development. Their feelings became wholly important to me. Mentoring has bettered my ability to stand in others' shoes. Many a time, I contemplated the fact that I was lucky enough to be born into a household in which both of my parents were English-speaking and able to set aside the time to read to me. I did not have to worry about learning to read in public school while feeling like I was falling behind my classmates, but I know my mentees face that challenge.
Though I had obviously been aware of educational disparities prior to my time at Lewisdale Elementary School, they were made clearer to me when I started volunteering there. Understanding the difficulties other people face and the fact that people come from different backgrounds is imperent to connecting to others. I felt that I had succeeded at being able to do so when Scarlet ran up to me and gave me a hug one day because she was so excited to see me. Moments like that truly made my experience special. Discovering commonalities between myself and my mentees was something I strived to do in order to better connect with them. The first day I worked with Emeli, she was so scared that she didn't speak a word to me. However, through actions like selecting a book about buses after discovering she was a fan of them and regularly high-fiving her and complimenting her intelligence, I was able to bring her out of her shell. Connecting to other human beings is human nature, but can be difficult at times, and I was glad I was able to push myself to do so with America Reads.
Though I had obviously been aware of educational disparities prior to my time at Lewisdale Elementary School, they were made clearer to me when I started volunteering there. Understanding the difficulties other people face and the fact that people come from different backgrounds is imperent to connecting to others. I felt that I had succeeded at being able to do so when Scarlet ran up to me and gave me a hug one day because she was so excited to see me. Moments like that truly made my experience special. Discovering commonalities between myself and my mentees was something I strived to do in order to better connect with them. The first day I worked with Emeli, she was so scared that she didn't speak a word to me. However, through actions like selecting a book about buses after discovering she was a fan of them and regularly high-fiving her and complimenting her intelligence, I was able to bring her out of her shell. Connecting to other human beings is human nature, but can be difficult at times, and I was glad I was able to push myself to do so with America Reads.