Mentors and Mentees Bond at College Basketball Game
By Astrid Corvin-Brittin
The energy in the Barclays Center was high as the Virginia Commonwealth University and St. Joseph’s University basketball teams battled each other to advance to the NCAA tournament. In the stands, a different type of teamwork was happening through the spirited conversation and camaraderie between a group of college students and their mentors from Henry Street’s Mentoring Makes a Difference program.
Mentoring Makes a Difference has recruited professionals from diverse companies — such as Credit Suisse, Macy’s and Microsoft — to become online mentors for 50 college-bound and freshman college students from Henry Street’s Expanded Horizons college prep and retention program. The exciting program provides youth who face adjustment, academic and financial issues in college with the critical support they need to succeed in school.
The basketball game’s energetic environment helped strengthen the burgeoning relationships between mentors and mentees. Mentors, inspired by the energy of the stadium and their own memories from college, spoke about their college experiences, including life on campus and the challenge of selecting the right major. “It’s great to get perspective from someone who has gone through this phase of life already,” said one mentor. “I think the knowledge shared between mentor and mentee is beneficial.”
The mentees couldn’t have agreed more. Said one student: “It’s nice to see where my mentor came from — and how he got there.”
Raana Kashi, Director of Expanded Horizons, which oversees the mentoring program, was thrilled with the event. “It was great to see the fun and informative conversations that mentors were having with their mentees,” she said. “Mentees also had a chance to be in a college-filled environment where people from all over came to cheer on their schools.”
Beginning its third class of mentor-mentee matches this August, Henry Street is recruiting and training interested mentors now through July.
