This school year, I've had the privilege to be a Sponsor and a math mentor. As a sponsor, I live with freshmen and I'm kinda their big sister when they get homesick, or actually sick, or if they just wanna hang out. As a math mentor, I help a Calc 1 class survive their homework three nights a week. While I expected to spend the year being a mentor, my mentees have taught me so much more than I've taught them, and they've given me a purpose in life. Here are 11 reasons why I'm so thankful for them:
1. They make me laugh. Especially Autumn, who honestly deserves her own show on Comedy Central.
2. They are so brilliant. I love watching my math mentees walk in being scared of math, like I was, but then, by the time they leave the mentor session, they realize they're more than capable of handling the homework.
3. They've made me realize how much I don't know. I have sponsees from all over the world who have taught me things about cultures I knew nothing about, and made me question the correctness of some of the "normal" habits we have here in America. I've learned to advocate for problems that I didn't even realize were problems.
4. They are seriously part of my family. We literally live down the hall from each other!
5. They make me feel like I vaguely have my shit together. Even if I'm still a lost sophomore who doesn't know what to do after college, they still think I'm "mature" because I've already declared my major and I know where I'm studying abroad.
6. I know we can rely on each other. As much as they count on me for help with math or figuring out how to work the registration portal, I count on them for life advice and plenty of high fives and support, too.
7. I've made some friends that I never expected to have. Some of the freshmen I'm closest to are soccer players and cross country runners. As a four-year veteran of high school theater who literally steps on her own foot when she tries to dance, I never knew I could be "cool" enough to be friends with athletes - but here we are, totally besties. 
8. They've shown me quality over quantity. Even if I haven't seen my sponsees in a week, we can sit down for an hour of "Prison Break" and feel just as bonded as ever. It's not about how much time you spend with someone, but how meaningful you make that time.
9. They've taught me how to teach. I was terrified of math when I graduated high school with a C in AP BC Calculus. Today, though, I have the patience and confidence to explain a semester's worth of calculus to 15 kids at a time, and we always manage to muddle through it as a team. One of them even said I should be a professor.
10. They've reminded me to check my privilege. As a white cis hetero female from Tennessee, there are so many adversities that I will never have to face. Thanks to my freshmen, I now understand that I didn't do anything to deserve that privilege, so I damn well better use it to help others who aren't as fortunate as me.
11. They give me a purpose in life. Whenever my classes are awful or I'm having a hard time dealing with my health, I remember I have to drag myself out of my room for them. I don't HAVE to see them - I WANT to see them. I can't wait to spend the next hour laughing and smiling with them as we survive another day at college. They might not realize it, but they have my heart.
