Back to School, Redux

After some 20 first days of schools, I still get jitters. And this year, I did not even start classes but I am back to school. Today was the first day of the mentoring program I am volunteering with. And I won't lie, I was a little nervous. What will my mentee think about me? What if she thinks I am boring or not cool? Silly thoughts since this is not about me at all.

Inspired by my brother, who is a "Big Brother" in Oakland, I decided to find my own mentorship program. I thought it would be harder for me to be a "Big Sister" because I'm not as good at just hanging out with teenage girls (this is what happens your only sibling is a boy); however, I know I am pretty good at helping people academically. So I signed up for a great organization that is academically focused. I really admired how no non-sense, but supportive they are with the students. They bring together kids from public schools and charter schools across DC and help them with all aspects of preparing for college: academics, personal maturity, financial, etc. The stories I heard were so inspiring. The mentor I met at traning just had her last student receive a full scholarship to UNC.

The organization pointed out that DC is the most college-educated city in the country, yet it also has one of the worst high school graduation rates. Let's use one to help the other.

As for my student, I don't think there was any reason to worry. She seems very nice. We are very different, but we found common ground in a love for writing, watching football, and Law & Order SVU. I can work with this.