I am a mentor

I am 20 years old, and I actually make impact in somebodies' life every day or at least I try to. I have been so overwhelmed with work, life, family, family chaos and finding my own way in the world.

but while I am not overwhelmed, I spend most of days dreaming, plotting and planning crafts, ideas, trips and things that my young mentee and I can do.

my parents forbid me from getting their house checked out by the program that I mentor through because of past problems and their own fears.

so, my time, places and ways to connect with my mentee was limited especially since I do not drive. I live in a small town, and I walk everywhere I go and ride my bike. Walking and a riding a bike much healthier I believe than driving. especially with the gas prices now.

I started mentoring my mentee my senior year of high school. I would take her on walks, I took to a several robotics meetings.

we were working on reading the classic novel of " the call of the wild" when covid hit and we had to stop seeing each other because of both our house holds having high risk people living in them.

for a while our meetings had to stop. then I realized we can meet through video. and so, we started our quest of meeting through video. where we would chat about our days, I would attempt to bring real life situations into our talks, we would do crafts through video and even attempted to bake cookies through video, we also watched movies through prime video. they have a party watch program where you can watch movies and shows with other people at the same time and chat with them. of course, my mentee has some problems with typing, so we chose to video chat while we watched the movies.

fast forward to October of 2020 we started video chatting more and talking. when December hit, we put our heads together and decided to do something good for a small town and community. so, we spent weeks prepping or so it seems.

what we called "holiday bags". we hand painted the paper bags with handles on them and I bought all the candy and food items to place in the holiday bags. we also added little nick knacks into the bags.

than one day we bundled up and gathered our bags and set out to hand them out. we had a certain amount made. and we were on a foot. so, we would go door to door. ringing the door or knocking. saying we who we were and why we're doing it.

our goal was to make people happy and help them to realize even though the holidays were different that was still joy in them.

this was also supposed to help my mentee with her shyness and to show her to spreading joy and giving was much better than getting things.

Our project was found out and we were featured in newspapers, On the radio. (For her safety and mine own no pictures will be including in this story)

we loved handing things. so, valentine's day we handmade cards for a nursing home in our town and made marshmallow treats.

we did not get a respond from this give out. but we did not care about that.

we are supposed to meet together every month for 4 hours. but lately I have unable to do that.

But I have a new home and a good paying job. everything we do I pay for right out of my pocket. I have only ever asked for money back once from the program. I do not get paid to be her mentor. it is simply volunteering program that I do because I love helping people and making a Difference.

But my dream is that I can get the program can come over to my new place and give me the okay for my mentee to be over here.

I will have a chest full of activities, science kits, art supplies, art projects, books, notebooks, books for learning, board games and educational supplies of every manner.

this chest would be made out of wood and kept in my attic. our first project together would be to decorate the chest together.

my dream is teaching her the value of herself, of her community and of the world she lives in.