Cool Experience

I had a very cool experience yesterday. I volunteered to mentor a Reagan high school student through the Project Grad program. Yesterday I went to lunch at the school and I met my mentee for the first time.

I was sitting for a while at my table in the library and she hadn't shown up. I was starting to worry that I wasn't going to get a student assigned to me, that she wasn't going to show up and other thoughts. I wanted a really cool kid, someone who wasn't shy our mousy.

As I was thinking this a girl comes walking in and she looks like she's in a hurry. She also has a hint of a rebel look about her. She makes her way around the bookshelves and around other tables and I knew that it was her. She walked towards my table and I asked, "Rocio?" She nodded and sat next to me. I liked her almost immediately.

She's a senior and she plays the gitarron for the school's mariachi band. (VERY COOL! I love mariachi music.) She's originally from Guanajuato and has only lived in Houston four years but she still has a house there and she goes home to visit often. She's a little shy but not mousy at all. She looks like she's very outgoing and outspoken, once you get to know her. She also has an air about her that's older.

The program wants us to meet with our student once a month at a scheduled meeting in the library for lunch. I can meet with her more often if I want, weekly or every other week, during their study period. I'm going to try and make it a weekly thing on Fridays. One of the main things she needs help with is her English. She speaks it perfectly but she still lacks the confidence to speak it comfortably. I told her we'd only speak English since this is something she needs help on but I'm totally cool about speaking Spanish if we need to, depending on the subject.

I'm so excited to be embarking on this mentor mentee relationship! I think it's going to be very rewarding.