Ann Pope on Being a Mentor

Ann Pope shares her nearly 6 years experience as a mentor through a Charleston, SC program that allows volunteers to visit with a student during the school day once a week to fortify their learning with consistency, caring & support.

Be A Mentor is an organization that is close to my heart. I have been a mentor at Meeting Street Academy through Be A Mentor for almost 6 years now! I have been paired with the same wonderful mentee the entire time and we have both seen a tremendous change in our lives after our years together. Azyree was in first grade when we were first paired together and she was a quiet, shy, slightly mad at the world young girl and after 5 years of meeting with her weekly she has become a confident, outgoing, hilarious 6th grader. Mentoring is a great way to get involved in the community because it has profound impacts. Be A Mentor has found that " for young adults who were at-risk for falling off track but had a mentor are 55% more likely to enroll in college, 46% less likely to use drugs, and 130% more likely to hold leadership positions".

Azyree and I meet for around 40 minutes once a week during the school year which is not a huge time commitment but has had a huge impact. You can choose if you'd rather work with elementary school children, middle school, or high school where you'd help them choose their path in life. I highly encourage everyone to check it out! They are in dire need of male mentors, but will accept anyone who wishes to volunteer. I'll leave you with the text I received in May right after my mentee graduated from elementary school. Her mom texted me a photo since I couldn't be at graduation and said, "Thank you so much for everything you have done for her over the years. I speak and pray for you often when I think about how much she has grown. Your consistency with her over the years definitely has helped shape her. I know she appreciates you but I do as well." Hopefully that inspires you to check them out!