I have been a peer mentor at Academic Magnet since my sophomore year. My freshman year, I decided to apply to the mentor program because I thought it would be a great way to make new friends and get to know people in other grades. The past three years have been amazing, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. People often ask me how I am okay with not having the senior early out, and it’s because this program has been extremely rewarding.  Below I will list the top six reasons why you should apply to become a mentor:

The Joys of Helping People

As a mentor, you get to help people. It makes you feel good when you realize that you are having a positive impact on the school. What do you get to help with? Well most importantly you get to help your mentees. Whether this is giving them studying tips or telling them about a club you think they’d be interested in, you are making an impact on their lives, even if it does not seem like a big deal to you. As a mentor, you are also able to give tours and help set up freshmen events. I love giving tours to freshmen and even had the pleasure of giving a tour to 8th grade prospective students and their parents for the first time this year! Although Covid-19 has changed things a bit, mentors in the past were able to help out with freshman carnival.

Meeting People in other Grades

Through the mentor program, I have become very close to many other students in my grade. The program has also allowed me to meet students in other grades. As a mentor, you are able to know the freshmen class extremely well. Not only do you get to know your own mentees, you also get to know the other freshmen in their study hall. You also get to know the underclassmen and upperclassmen in your own study hall. My sophomore year, I sat next to Sophia Wilson, a senior mentor during the 2019-2020 school year, and learned a lot from her. She gave me great advice about junior and senior year at Magnet, and I saw her as a mentor towards me as well. I have also gotten to know Maysen Ronchetto, who is currently a junior at Magnet. She is always full of energy, and is a very approachable person.

Summer Scholars

Going to the Summer Scholars Institute (SSI) may be scary when you are a freshman, but it is so fun volunteering as an upperclassman. I have great memories from the SSI in 2019 and in 2021. SSI feels so energetic and it is fun being able to see your other mentor friends after not seeing them over the summer. During the SSI for this school year, junior Ava Peterson, sophomore Rohan Sarkar, and I were assigned to do activities with Mr. McCormick’s study hall class. They were a really fun, energetic group and it was nice getting to know Ava and Rohan better. Since SSI is the first week of August, it also helps you adjust to going back to school so much easier.

New Friends 

Coming into the program, the only other mentors that I was friends with were Claudia Rose Perkis, Maya Khaskhely, and Anna Leigh Tangeman. Mentoring has allowed me to strengthen my friendships with these three wonderful people, and make so many more friends. Emily Weber and Macey Bearden are two of the sweetest people to ever exist, and I am so grateful that the mentor program introduced me to both of these amazing girls. This year I have also become friends with Mary Compton, who is one of the most intelligent and good-natured people I know. I also get to see my awesome friend Lexi LeGendre who never fails to make me smile. Through the program I have also become friends with (or have become better friends with) Aanika Dhawan, LaPortia Scott, Destiny Vinson, Maggie Garrigan, Meriem Bazine, Mikhael Douglass, Bryce Getsinger, and Sam Oliver-Reed. Although they were unable to be mentors this year, I am also thankful that I got to become friends with McKenna Ronchetto and Amelia Kitchens from past years in the program.

3B Study Hall 

While others may see having a 3B study hall as a con, most of the time I really enjoy having study hall in the middle of the day. Having a mentor study hall also means that you will have Mrs. Yackey or Mrs. Calabrese as a study hall teacher. I have had the pleasure of having Mrs. Yackey as my study hall teacher for three years. Mrs. Yackey is an amazing teacher, and cares about all of her students tremendously! The obvious con is that with a 3B study hall you are unable to get senior early outs. But this is only a con for senior mentors.  So if you are going into your sophomore or junior year next year, having a 3B study hall should not scare you away from mentoring! Honestly not having senior early outs isn’t that bad (okay, sometimes it is a little annoying) when you consider how much fun we have in study hall. The senior lounge is the best and although I try to spend my time being productive, I often find myself playing the Wii with Mary, Destiny, and Mikhael.

Community Service Hours 

Yes, you get all of your service hours from mentoring. But this should NOT be your MAIN reason for joining the program. If you are not interested in helping others, you should not become a mentor just to get your community service hours in. But I have to say, not having to stress about where your service hours are coming from is very nice.

Applications are due February 16th! Posters can be found around the school with QR codes linking to the application.