Foreign Hopes

Due to having landed an amazing job setting up science labs, I was not able to sign up to mentor at Hand Middle School. Instead, I’ve been allowed to do something even more appealing; help teach a foreign student how to speak English! I’m really excited about this prospect and I think there is more that both mentor and mentee can get out of this relationship. After having transitioned into a new life at college, few people retain their old friendships and college can be a very lonely experience at first. With this setup, however, both participants gain a valuable friend who they can both rely on in times of need. While it is true that you can befriend your mentee at Hand Middles School, the friendship will never grow and if the child ever does get close enough to share his thoughts with you, you can never share your thoughts with them; it’s a very one sided relationship. The relationship with a foreign student of the same age has much more potential to continue and grow after the mentoring process is done.