Mentoring
I got a call at work the other night from a friend I hadn’t talked to in a while. Mostly we haven’t talked in a while because I haven’t been very good at maintaining our friendship, but as he says, the phone goes both ways. He and I used to work together here at MacLaren, but he left for another job. For his privacy, I won’t tell you his name.
His son has been having some trouble in school for a while now. The most recent incident was chewing tobacco, but it’s kind of the last straw I think. He has been suspended for 9 weeks. He’s really a great kid, but he’s got a reputation at school for bad behavior and bad friends and I’m not sure he could succeed now if he tried. Not because he’s incapable, mind you, but because his teachers only see what they expect to see from him. I try not to judge them too harshly, I know how hard it can be to work with guys like him, but I think teachers have a duty to keep trying.
So my friend called me to tell me about his son’s recent troubles and to tell me that he was being enrolled in a special alternative school at the beginning of the year. It’s a military model, like a boot camp. Part of the program requires that he have a mentor that is willing to commit to a year of contact once a week. My friend asked me to be a mentor for his son. It was a hard thing for him to do, he was embarrassed a bit I think. But he didn’t realize how honored I was to be asked.
I am happy to be able to help him in this way. I am also thrilled to have the chance to spend some time with his son. Like I said, he’s a great kid, he’s just a little lost.
So, wish me luck. Maybe you should be wishing the boy some luck as well.