Day One: A Whirlwind

I started my first day of mentoring at Classic City High School! I honestly didn't know what to expect when I walked into the school. I didn't know how on earth I would be able to relate to a kid who has experienced true hardship. My school experiences were sheltering to say the least. One or two kids had a "story" but for the most part we were all pretty fortunate. There wasn't a significant bullying problem, poverty wasn't an issue, and one of the most tragic events of the week was if the cafeteria changed "Chicken Tender Tuesday". Needless to say, I did not know how to process a place where every student has a "story".


I wanted to start the day out well. I wanted to look presentable and professional. The hair looked good, the outfit looked nice, my bag was packed and I was ready to face whatever Classic City had to offer me. I walked out my door... and into the pouring rain. So with hair ruined, shoes wet from the puddles I couldn't avoid, and a twisted ankle from slipping out of the car, I took a deep breath and walked into the school.

After getting assigned a student to work with, the coordinator showed me around the school. Classic City has an open campus policy that I wasn't expecting. The students seemed to have a lot of freedom to roam the school. My first impression of this policy left me kind of curious. It appears to me that these kids need structure in their lives, and school would be the place to get it. But for all I know, structure could have been the very thing they rebelled from in a mainstream school. I will have to watch and see how the students respond to the freedom. The students seem to do a lot of their work on computers, which kind of makes me feel old! Classrooms are getting more and more technology based, and I need to learn to adjust my thinking and be open to the benefits of using technology (she said as she typed her blog...on her laptop...).

I was very nervous to meet my student. I was told that some of the kids are trouble makers, some don't want you to help them--for various reasons-- and some just don't even care that you are there. Well was I surprised when I met...lets call him Kevin. Kevin is maybe one of the kindest people I have met. He is in 11th grade and I am helping him with his American Literature class. He was nice to me when we met, he seemed interested in getting to know me, and he was open to telling me things about himself.

Things I've learned about Kevin so far:

• He loves art and drawing (I was promised a drawing next week, I'll upload a picture!)
• He wants to one day go into the music production business
• His favorite artist is Eminem
• He is incredibly motivated
• He wants to learn
• He wants to graduate
• He likes playing chess

I know these things seem pretty surface level--and I will agree that they are. But the fact that I was able to learn those things about him meant the world to me. He wasn't afraid to ask me for help, he wasn't embarrassed or mad that I was there, and he was able to have conversations with me and also remember that we had work to do.

The things that broke my heart about Kevin:

• He knows exactly what he wants to say in his papers and work, but can barely put a sentence together on paper...as an 11th grader.
•  He was continuously asking me if I was going to come back again.
• He offered to miss an assembly to stay behind and continue to work on his assignment with me.

I will be working on test prep for Kevin's English Graduation Test, and I hope we can really make some progress. This kid wants to learn, wants to do well, and could really do some good in this world. It would break my heart if someone so talented and kind wasn't able to pursue the life they wanted. Here's to hoping that Kevin and I can get some serious work done together!