Youth mentoring is something anyone can do, a little bit of time, some life experience, an open mind and a willingness to listen is all you need to get started. Pretty soon you realise that its likely you are getting a lot more out of it than expected.
My journey to youth mentoring has developed over many years starting with coaching netball as a teenager, joining kid’s friend programs in my thirties, being mentored and mentoring through work, both formally and informally over many years, and training as a Life Coach in my forties.
One of my professional joys was mentoring university graduates in their first year of employment. It gave me a great opportunity to connect and gain an insight into their lives, their issues, their concerns and their hopes for the future. Each year over a nearly 10-year period seeing how the perspectives of new graduates changed with time and technology also made me think about the future I wanted to live in.
And then I retired. Like many I started to wonder who I was and what was I going to do with all my spare time. Knowing how much I got out of mentoring I started looking for voluntary programs in the community. I enjoyed working with young adults so started there to no avail but found a number of programs working with teenagers.
The program I joined required the completion of a self-paced competency based online training program and a trainer lead interactive session. This gave me the competency to join their school based programs. And then with great trepidation, I turned up for my first in school mentoring session. I think I was more nervous than the kids. I was one of 15 mentors, with a corresponding number of kids who became our mentees.
The program generally works with year 8 and 9 students over terms 2 and 3 of the year. After activities and games aimed at breaking the ice and getting to know each other in the first week, the program coordinator works out the matches. In the second week we got assigned our mentees and following fun group activities and a curriculum to guide us we sat down to chat, before coming back together as a group for morning tea and general chats and catch up, followed by a mentor ‘support’ session. This generally became the weekly routine.
Sounds easy, and sometimes it is. But these kids are in the program to help them connect with adults, build confidence, resilience and a positive view to the future. Sometimes they don’t want to chat or engage, or it takes time to build up trust in the random stranger who says that they are there for them. By coming back each week, even when they don’t want to engage, they start to understand that people will turn up for them. Most importantly, you don’t have to have the answers you just need to listen.
But what do I get out of it? I have a sense of purpose, I am challenged on both the good and not so good days, I am learning about the world from a young person’s perspective, I have expanded my community and world view, and I get in touch with my inner child who still loves to play games and have fun.
My second year in the program has just finished and I am wondering what to do with my time until the program starts again next April. Yes, I have already signed on for next year.
Interested? Google what’s in your local area, we all have so much to give, so much to gain from the experience and for added convenience some programs are offered online.
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