In today’s society, people are quick to judge other people without understanding their background first. People will post their opinions on social media without taking any action to make a difference in the community. Toward the end of my freshman year of college, I was stuck in a rut. I had just gotten out of a relationship, classes were stressful, and track took over most of my schedule. I needed something new in my life that would take my mind off the stress and give me a way to give back to the community. I decided to apply to be a TeamMate.
The TeamMates mentoring program was founded by Tom Osborne and offers a mentor to a student who is having a tough time in school or at home. The TeamMates meet at the student’s school at least once a week for only an hour. They encourage you to play games, talk, be active, and basically do anything you can to give the child something to look forward to that week. You take a matching test to see what student you would be most compatible with, go in for a day of training, then you are free to start meeting with your teammate. After I had completed training and was ready to meet with my teammate, I felt a plethora of emotions. I was excited and nervous, but mostly excited.
When I got to Riley Elementary School for our first meeting, the TeamMates coordinator briefed me on my TeamMate’s situation and her personality. I knew that I could handle a student with a rough life, but what if she didn’t like me or we had nothing in common? The lady told me that my TeamMate was super into art and music. She was not super into sports and was rather shy as well. At first, I was disappointed. I specifically said in the survey how much I loved sports and how outgoing I was. I was so scared that the girl who was supposed to look up to me would want nothing to do with me. I did not realize at the time that our different qualities would turn out to complement each other very well.
As we met each week, I started to notice our similarities more than our differences. With every intense Uno game that we played, I got to see more and more of her competitive, sarcastic and goofy sides. I absolutely loved it. Deep down, this girl was just like me and was a joy to be around. I think she just needed the right person to bring it out of her. As time went on, we began to build a solid friendship and I could tell that she truly trusted me. She began coming to me for advice and started to tell me more and more about her family and home life. I am having to wipe away tears as I am writing this because I am just so thankful to have been matched with such a caring girl and that our friendship has grown so strong.
Luckily, I am not the only one who has such positive feelings about this friendship. When I asked her about how she felt about being my TeamMate she said, “It’s really nice having a friend to talk to. I am happy that I joined the TeamMates program.”
Just an hour a week can really change your perspective on how we can positively impact the children who will ultimately be the future of this country. They need us to guide them. We cannot expect them to grow into exceptional people if we cannot give them an example to follow. It is important to keep in mind that not everyone has the privileges that you might. Maybe somebody is just as privileged as you, but has bigger problems deep down. We will never be able to understand these problems unless we learn to become more compassionate and willing to care about others.
Am I changing the whole entire world by mentoring a child? Probably not. But I do know that I am making a significant impact in one child’s life. That’s a heck of a lot more than none. If everybody took time out of their day to help a child, we could see this country take a few steps in a more positive direction. By spreading love and guidance, we can drive out hate. All it takes is action. Not sitting behind a computer complaining about how much you hate the world. These kids are our future and it is our job to lead by example and instill these values in them. We might not be able to change the whole world, but we can start by changing our own community.
Visit the TeamMates website to apply to be a mentor today! There are plenty of kids on the waiting list who love to meet you.
