My Day Is always Better for having volunteered

Rebecca Saul was active in mentoring-tutoring throughout high-school and college as both mentor and mentee. She was thankful for those experiences and when she moved to Maryland few years ago, she wanted to carry that legacy forward.  Volunteering with AOK Mentoring & Tutoring allowed her to do just that.
One child she worked with was with a little boy who was a bit behind in reading. Initially, reading was not one of his preferred activities, and they would only spend a short portion of their time together working on this skill. As the weeks went by, he gradually grew more and more excited about the stories they were reading, and soon he was insisting that they spend the entire session reading each week.”
Rebecca learned that being a good mentor is 90% just showing up as a consistent, positive adult in the student's life. The other 10% is taking time to learn about the mentee and incorporating their interests in the weekly activities. “Keep in mind that kids are people, and they have bad days too. Sometimes, mentees will not be as engaged in the activities you plan for them. It can be easy to internalize this, but it is almost never a reflection of you. Allow your student to have an "off" day and don't let it shake your confidence! Just remember that being there for them is what is most important.”
Mentoring has helped the students that Rebecca mentored build not only academic and social skills, but also become more confident in themselves and their abilities. “Watching students gain confidence in areas where they had previously struggled is definitely the most rewarding part of being a mentor,” she noted.

​Written by Karol Olson, AOK Board Vice President