Service hours are extremely significant in order to gain necessary skills that will help an individual in the future. It is rather difficult to decide where to volunteer due to the various options on campus and within the community. I have chosen to do my service hours through College Mentors for Kids on campus at Ball State University. I have been involved with this organization for three semesters and I am hoping to expand my leadership role in the future. College Mentors for Kids connects college students with elementary students who need it the most. This organization creates a brighter future for young individuals and gives all students hope in life!
College Mentors for Kids takes place every week, excluding holidays, from 3-5 p.m. and
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always includes a snack, a book of the week, an activity, and journal time. The activity varies each week, but the goal is to have the students do the following: learn about college, become familiar with the campus, become familiar with majors, learn about diverse careers, learn how to help the community, learn about diversity, and grow attached to their buddy (mentor)! The staff includes the president, vice president of programming, activity director, activity committee, transportation officer, bus riders, general managers, and mentors. Without all of these volunteers, College Mentors for Kids would not be possible! I had the opportunity to go to National Conference a month ago and we were informed that Ball State University’s chapter is the largest out of 33 other universities! Ball State University is collaborating with five different schools surrounding Muncie, which includes over 220 students in first through fifth grades. The impact that this organization has on the students and mentors is incredible; I am so lucky to be a part of it! This year, I am working with two different groups, which includes students from Albany Elementary School and Eaton Elementary School. Our activity each week takes place on campus (2000 W University Ave, Muncie, IN 47306), the bus drops the students off at Cooper Science parking lot and we report to homeroom in Burkhardt building room 104. However, we normally try to have our activity outside as much as possible to prevent the students from staying inside too much! College Mentors for Kids is all about getting the elementary students excited for a higher education and providing a mentor for the student to always look up to! Most of these students are the students who need this assistance the most and need motivation to learn how to reach their full potential in order to positively influence the community. On Monday, I am a general manager for a group of third grade students and college mentors (30 individuals).
Additionally, on Wednesday, I am a mentor for my third grade buddy! Two weeks ago, we began the year with the annual Ice Cream Social at the students’ schools. This social is exciting because the students and mentors are able to meet for the first time or are able to reunite if the students are returners. The mentors have the chance to meet the guardians or family members of the students as well! As a general manager, I had the chance to meet all 15 of the students who will be in my buddy family on Mondays. Also, I took the time to introduce myself to all of the students’ guardians and learn something about each student! As a mentor, I was so excited to be reunited with my little buddy and talk with his parents again! It was unbelievable to see how much he had changed and we were so excited to see each other! We were pen pals over the summer, but we stopped writing a few months ago. My little buddy and I talked about the following: activities that we were excited for, his favorite activities from the previous year, how his summer went, his interests, and his least favorite activities from the previous …show more content…
year. The following week, College Mentors for Kids began activities on campus!
As a general manager on Monday, we began with snack and then I let the buddy pairs get to know each other with an ice breaker. Our first activity consisted of a campus tour of Ball State University with a tour guide who took us to every building on campus. This activity allowed the students to be acquainted with campus as well as get comfortable with their mentors. As a mentor on Wednesday, we had a scavenger hunt with clues that led us to significant places on campus and the students enjoyed this activity! We ended the day with journals on both days, which consists of the college question of the week, what the student learned during the activity, what the student learned about their mentor, and how many buddy bucks the student earned. Buddy bucks are used as an incentive for the students to always listen, respect, and participate each
day. As a general manager, it is my job to attend the activity committee’s meetings each week and staff meetings every other week. According to InTASC standard 10, Leadership and Collaboration, the teacher takes an active role on the instructional team, giving and receiving feedback, observing the learner work, examining data from multiple sources, and sharing responsibility for decision making and accountability for each students’ learning (10a). As a general manager and mentor, I am always considering and relying on the instructional team for feedback and final decisions. Furthermore, I work with the instructional team in order to observe all of the students’ learning. In InTASC 10, the teacher collaborates with other professionals and that must be done as a general manager for this organization! The program will advance with the collaboration of the instructional team’s ideas. An internal developmental asset can be seen within all individuals who attend College Mentors for Kids activities. For example, Sense of Purpose from the Positive Identity category is present in multiple ways because the college mentors have a purpose to be involved with the organization. The students have a sense of purpose because they are willing to learn about helping the community and are learning about continuing their education. During activity, my little buddy showed this internal asset by stating that he wants to attend Ball State University and live in a dorm, like me. College Mentors for Kids allows all students to realize that their life has a purpose because so many people are there who care about them and want them to succeed! Generally, College Mentors for Kids is a great organization for college students to connect with elementary students as well as to have an incredible impact on the elementary students’ lives. Mentors have the chance to show young individuals the importance of being successful in school and help them understand higher education opportunities. A students’ life can be changed because of this organization. Overall, mentors will have a lasting impression on the students they work with, which will create a successful life for the elementary students.
I equate service with helpfulness—assisting others. I help both my school community by answering questions and giving feedback and my community as a whole through my volunteer activities, the most enjoyable of which has been Habitat for Humanity.
One of the possible research topics I plan to undertake involves analyzing the impact that mentoring can have on the graduation success rate of African American males, particularly when the mentor is a Black male and the relationship takes place in the south. In my opinion, these relationships can have a profound impact on a student’s ability to persist towards graduating from college. Though my research, I want to hear the stories of Black males who have benefited from successful mentoring relationships with other Black men. I believe that establishing a strong mentoring relationship with Black males at a young age can greatly improve their chance of academic success. Furthermore, I believe that mentoring is a strong early intervention mechanism to prevent Black males from dropping out of high school and deterring them from pursuing degrees in higher education. At the same time, I would like my research interest to focus on African American males in the south, but I would like my scope to focus on mentoring relationships between black men; both structured and unstructured.
You will interact with numerous people during your lifetime; however, only important and significant people will make influences in your life. In the movie Something the Lord Made directed by Joseph Sargent, Vivien Thomas, an African-American carpenter who dreams of going to college and becoming a doctor, is forced to work as a lab assistant under the instructions and guidance of an arrogant and eccentric cardiologist, Dr. Alfred Blalock. Despite having no college degree, Vivien Thomas is able to learn medical and surgical skills through the guidance of Dr. Blalock, and their cooperation ultimately leads to the discovery of a cure for blue baby syndrome. Similar to Dr. Blalock’s tutelage, I have learned to love biology under the teaching and mentoring of my biology teacher, Dr. Cron. Even though both Dr. Cron and Dr. Blalock are excellent instructors, they are extremely and uniquely different in their mentoring styles. Differences in mentoring styles can have huge influences and impacts on the mentees’ development of skills, and personalities.
Opening activity: Have students reflect on a friendship that changed due to distance or time.
Mentorship can be broken down into peer and professional associations. A peer mentoring study was done by Bulut et al. (2010) which had first year nursing students paired with fourth year nursing students, this relationship increased the students’ perceptions and potentials of the university. Other outcomes included decreasing first year students stress levels, increasing self-confidence, autonomy and problem solving skills. Benefits for the senior students were developing a sense of responsibility, enhancing communication skills, critical thinking skills and leadership skills. Some negative factors mentioned in this study that hindered mentorship was intimidating attitudes and poor communication from the mentors (Bulut
Community service is something that I have always engaged. In college, I worked with chemically dependent children as both a caretaker and a mentor. After I graduated, I taught at-risk children in a community youth outreach program. To remain involved and aware of the focus of my studies during my first year of law school, I volunteered at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center teaching youth their basic legal rights. Essentially, we strove to empower kids by providing practical information about the legal system and to help them develop more favora...
This year I have served 74 hours for Learner Leadership Council, 27 hours for National Charity League and 17 hours for New Tech High at Coppell. One of my favorite places to volunteer is at Cornerstone Closet where homeless adults come to get needed items and take showers. We get to help them find clothes, and necessities and spend time talking with them. Another organization that I spend a great deal of time serving in the summertime is Metrocrest. We put together the food backpacks for families through the Backpack Summer Hunger Project. These organizations reach out to other organizations and charities and assist with acts of service. Even on campus I have been able to serve others. Being a NTH@C Tour Ambassador has been an important way for me to give back to my school. I enjoy showing others our learning environment and the importance of what happens each day. By attending clubs on campus is also another way that I feel is a pertinent way to serve alongside others and celebrate their passions. School events such as ‘The Day’ and other school wide bondings also exemplifies service participation. It is a powerful way to show our connection to those around us on a daily
While I have taken part in several service projects in the past, the chance to expand my interests in helping the community is quite appealing. Performing community service is something that I enjoy, as it allows me to discover new interests while helping someone in need. The opportunity to perform community service, surrounded by fellow Academic Magnet students who support my enthusiasm for helping others, is a key aspect of why I want to be a part of this
Volunteering made me find my career plan in sociology / Social Worker. With a college degree in one of these areas, I hope to impact my community in ways. First, with the knowledge from college, I hope to counsel with young people& adults. In today's society, there are so many negative things that influence adults & young people. I want to help them understand the importance of setting goals and striving to become great citizens. I also want to give them a sense of hope that with perseverance, they can become great role models for other adults &young people by
Taking time to volunteer at the many nonprofit organizations, homeless shelters, advocacy centers, philanthropic fundraisers, local schools and child care facilities in the inner city is not always at the forefront of young people’s minds while navigating through their college experiences. But, with a little push from student organizations, local nonprofits and passionate individuals, volunteerism and community change can start to take a front seat and become not just an opportunity, but also a priority in the lives of young people.
At First Baptist Church of Cabot all of their members get a chance to do at least one service project. Each year I have helped with different block parties in areas where there is not much for the children to have fun and play with others. At the block party I got to spend time with the kids and talk to them about home life,school,and what they do on a regular basis. It is
Weekend after weekend, tournament after tournament, high school debate engrossed my life. After coming to college, I did not want to give up the activity. As such, I rechanneled my knowledge into a mentorship role. Once a week, I travel into an impoverished Boston high schools and teach students how to debate effectively and successfully. The students I work with through the Harvard College Mentors for Urban Debate program know nothing about debate. They come in with a blank state. However, through a mentorship process, in the end, they were leaps and bounds ahead of where they started from.
Community service: What a wonderful opportunity for students! A chance for our younger citizens to learn responsibility, experience the satisfaction that comes with helping others and to acquire new skills.
I have had the great opportunity to be apart of a great program and class at college. Most of us who are going to become teachers know about this class and the required 80 hours of volunteering at a middle school for a semester. I was eager to volunteer, because I have experience in working with middle school kids. The school I work for, has prepared me to handle school aged kids, so I was relying on my background to carry me though the semester at a new Middle school.
As the last bell of the year rung, I gathered my books and started to headout to meet my friends. I thanked my teacher and wished her a great summer. The place where my friends and I meet was not as far so I met them right on time. There was five of us. All of us were from Ethiopia and three of them just moved to US. My best friend, Samire and I, have been helping them because of the new environment