My First Mentor Session
The day finally arrived today where I met my Mentee. Before heading over to meet him I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be, but truthfully there were still some butterflies in my stomach. For privacy reasons I will change his name to Lil Manny because in some ways he reminds me of myself at his age. It turns out there was nothing to be nervous about, Lil Manny was part of the program in years past and basically took over our first encounter. I imagined us getting to know each other a little bit at first, but he preferred to do his math homework. I was surprised to say the least but it makes sense now, he rather talk school work than get personal. In time, Rome wasn't built in a day.
Needless to say I went with it. I will do better next time with taking control over our session (Mental note). Thank God I still remember long division and how to solve word problems. I can't imagine my first day and Lil Manny gets a dumb mentor who can't do basic arithmetic, can you say Major Fail? Luckily today was a success overall; we did some school work, ate some snacks, played some games but more importantly I was able to spend time with him. He was a tough read, but seems like a typical child finding his way. Although I did watch his interaction with the other children on the playground and it seems like he is one of the leaders. The other kids gravitate to him, not to mention his cute little brother as well.
It is the weirdest thing being in an elementary school environment after so many years. The smells and the sounds transported me back to when I was a child running around without a care in the world. Unfortunately Lil Manny has many worries in his life at such a young age, one's I was fortunate enough not to have experienced. I hope I can alleviate some of his worries over time.
Key Learnings:
Take control of session
Make time to share about each other
Cultivate the leader within Lil Manny
Buy spicy chips for next session-He made sure to mention it
Keep showing up
Goals:
Get him to open up
Meet his family
Be patient
