Personal Narrative: My Love For The Mentoring Program

Growing up with a father in the military, you move around a lot more than you would like to. I was born just east of St. Louis in a city called Shiloh in Illinois. When I was two years old my dad got the assignment to move to Hawaii. We spent seven great years in Hawaii, we had one of the greatest churches I have ever been to name New Hope. New Hope was a lot like Olivet's atmosphere, the people were always friendly and there always something to keep someone busy. I used to dance at church, I did hip-hop and interpretive dance, but you could never tell that from the way I look now.

I am one of the following students who had the chance to obtain the South Bay Promise Scholarship. I didn't know about the South Bay Promise, nor the First Year Experience. I am thankful for having such an amazing statistic’s teacher, Mr. Espinoza from Hawthorne High School. When he told the whole class about the opportunities here in El Camino College, I knew I had to apply because it would make different. If it wasn’t for him, a teacher so passionate on seeing his students not just graduate but to motivate them to go to an university or a college after, I would never be in the place that I am.

Growing up in Southeastern Kentucky, a kid doesn’t have many expectations from their parents, school teachers, or themselves. When a student walks by two teachers talking they say, “This group of 5th graders are the worst, every one of them are as dumb as a box of rocks.” This is the sad reality of what happened in my elementary school at Marie Roberts-Caney. Our school slogan is, “No student left behind.” Ever since 3rd grade I knew it was a bunch or bologna. Don’t get me wrong, I had great parents who cared about me, but they didn’t expect much from me. Neither of my parents attended college and I was afraid of it. Even as a young student, I knew I wasn’t the brightest kid in the classroom. Now that I look back, I realize how hard I worked

For my twelve service hours, I decided to dedicate my time to one organization. That organization is known as College Mentors for Kids. College Mentors for Kids is a program specifically designed for elementary and college aged students. It is a nonprofit organization that works with over 2,000 students and mentors one day a week on a college campus. This program can be found throughout nine states and on 33 different college campuses. I am fortunate enough to be attending Ball State University, which is home to the largest chapter in the country for the program. The program’s main focus is to acknowledge the importance of higher education and career growth as you get older. There are a variety of ways the members of this organization accomplish

People always tell me I’m lucky. I am blessed with parents who advocate for me to receive the best in life regardless of their financial setback. So, in the fourth grade my parents greatly encouraged me to apply for The Steppingstone Foundation, a program that prepares urban students in Boston for admission to independent, catholic, and public exam schools. After Steppingstone, I applied for seven private schools and was only admitted into one, Newton Country Day School. It was intimidating at first; an all girls, independent, catholic school in Newton. Honestly, I had no idea what I was getting myself into and I had a rough time fitting in with all the other girls.

Through my experience with Building Bonds, Breaking B.A.R.S (Barriers Against Reaching Success), our campus’ first organization aimed towards minority youth in the juvenile justice system. I have had an opportunity to collaborate with Durham County Youth Home as a youth mentor, aiding as a positive role model to foster and nurture individual initiative. Volunteer sessions entailed topics such as job interviews, why education is important, tutorials in schoolwork and any other topics that would be beneficial. Mentoring under-represented

Week one has passed by quickly! I think this week was very successful and I can say that I have learned many new things. This week has been an experience for me learning things about the business world. I am not a business major so I was not expecting to take these classes. I was assigned them, but have found them very beneficial. As I read through the first couple of chapters I read things I had heard before. This was a good thing that I could put the information with the terms I had heard previously.

“Oh, my goodness,” “Wasn’t it so funny when Mr. Speranza split his pants in class today?”

There I was on the block next to the High Bar. It was about 5:00 at night when my coach told me to do a Kip. As I got up on the bar my nose filled with the smell of chalk. I started to swing, and as I came out of my half turn I looked good. Everything seemed fine but as I came to the part of the Kip where I have to pull my legs up to the bar, I slammed my shins into the bar. My momentum was stopped and I dropped on to the mat, missing the Kip. I felt like I had let down my coach and I had let down myself too. That day I experienced failure. That failure made me want my Kip even more so I worked harder and had support from my teammates.

When I was first notified that I had to attend the Summer Transition Program, I was upset. I thought that it was a complete waste of my summer. Now, I don’t want to imagine what would have happen to me if I wasn’t part of the program. Deep down  I was afraid of moving all the way to Virginia. I knew no one and was all alone. Thanks to the Transition Program,  I made life long friendships and acquaintances, got acclimated to living in virginia and have some of the best experience of my life.

In today’s society, it is easy to research our role model’s favorite colors, past relationships, zodiac signs, and many other unimportant facts, but it is difficult to find the most useful information: Who were their mentors? Our role models inspire us and help shape our identities. I have personally looked up to transgender activists and Jewish leaders at my synagogue. I have been inspired by the opportunities and freedoms these mentors have created for me.

The golds or the outcomes that I hope will occur as a result of my mentoring relationship are being able to grow no only as a person but also as a professional. Also, I want to be a lifelong person and always have a good attitude and look the positive side of negative situations. Another goal is to show the care that I will have for my mentor by always respecting his point of view. The desirable attributes that I possess is that I have a good sense of humor. However, I am a responsible person and respectful. Also, I am social and I like to converse about anything I like to fill the silence. Also, I am friendly and an easy going person. The ways that I will imply these attributes with my mentor is by always having a smile and have a good attitude.

The passion I have to watch others progress does not end on the soccer or softball fields. I am a residential counselor in an adolescent trauma treatment program, with the Family Service of Rhode Island team, guiding and encouraging clients’ recovery from the negative effects of their experiences. The opportunity to serve as a mentor to adolescents was a goal I had set for myself, after facing many obstacles as an adolescent who left home by age sixteen. Nevertheless, overcame those obstacles, despite the lack of guidance and support, I received from

I look in my night stand drawer and I find a few pictures, however the one that caught my eyes was dated June 10, 1976.In that picture I’m sitting on a bench in front of a water fountain in downtown I’m just turn 16 and sitting next to me my best friend Lucy and she’s 17. I know it's on a Saturday because it is the only day our mothers let us go to town. In the picture it seems to be a sunny day that our eyes are a little closed. I can see some birds very close to us, others eating off the floor, and many trees around the plaza. We are sitting close to the water fountain. The water is spraying our backs and we’re getting wet. We are laughing because the water was cold.

My interest in the program was getting on board because of the 24 month program, and I can manage working online better then majority of the time. I can still work full time and maintain the online courses. I will manage being enrolled by, checking the college portal every day, do all my online work and maintain a high GPA .