By Alexa Quiroz
After school mentoring program is coming to an end soon. Mentoring is an afterschool program where high school students mentor elementary school students. Many students benefit from mentoring, both high school and elementary school. Giving us an insight is high school student Harrison Bingaman.
Q: How long have you been mentoring?
A: “It’s coming up on four months. I started in January after winter break.”
Q: Okay, and are you enjoying mentoring?
A: “Yeah, it’s really fun. Sometimes I find myself not feeling it beforehand, but I always have a lot of fun being there. It’s every Thursday after school, so I can be very flexible with that and work my schedule around that.”
Q: How did you get into mentoring again?
A: “From a friend. I wasn’t planning on joining it when I first heard about it from my friend due to my lack of social skills, but after some convincing she got me to join.”
Q: Can you summarize what a normal mentoring day looks like?
A: “Yeah, so me and my partner, Ryan, start out with doing his homework, some reading and math. He’s a smart kid. Most of the time I just help him sound out words. After that’s done, we usually draw on the whiteboards and have pretend battles with our characters. We have a lot of fun.”
Q: Are you enjoying mentoring so far?
A: “For sure! My partner warmed up to me pretty quickly, and although we don’t have a lot of similar interests he’s still a lot of fun to be around, and I get to mark it down as community service so that’s a plus.”
Q: Could you tell me a bit more about your partner?
A: “Sure! He is a second grader at Louise White. He likes playing video games and watching anime. He has a lot of personality! We have a really great time. He is very kind.”
Q: Do you believe being in mentoring has changed anything about you? If so, what?
A: “Well I look forward to Thursdays more often. It’s nice to have another reason to be out of the house. and telling people I do mentoring makes me feel nice. Oh, and I’ve realized that if anyone needs me to babysit, I got you. Apparently I’m great with kids!”
Q: Would you recommend mentoring to other people at the high school?
A: “I suppose. as long as you have the right personality. Your character really does have an effect on your partner, and I think a positive character is the best for them.”
Q: Is there anything about mentoring that you would change?
A: “I wish it started earlier. It’s not that long, only one hour. Besides that I think everything else is great.”
Q: Lastly, do you think you’ll continue to mentor?
A: “Yeah! I would love to continue to help out a student. I like knowing a student can benefit in multiple ways from just spending time with me.”