Growing Through PupilPrep
By Samuel Cortes
As I entered my senior year, I wanted to get a lot more involved both in clubs I was participating in at the time, as well as in new endeavors. At the time, I had gotten the opportunity to attend the National Hispanic Scholarship Fund’s Youth Leadership Institute. There, I was given the opportunity to network with my peers and came to learn of PupilPrep. I decided that it was a great cause to support and I signed up. When I first signed up I only planned on being a mentor, but I soon decided that I wanted a larger role in order to make a bigger difference. I tried to be Secretary but I got batted out of the park. I wasn’t so quickly disheartened, so I went ahead and applied to become a mentor coach. And honestly, I enjoy my role and I think it fits me alright. It’s a job that requires extra time on my part to ensure that the 20 or so mentors under me are up to date and get the help they need, but I like the challenge of working with others to find ways to streamline communication. I’ve always found joy in leading and working with others - teamwork is a part of who I am. I think it’s also why I love soccer and why I loved being in Boy Scouts. The connection and support that team members give each other is something you can’t get anywhere else. PupilPrep has definitely also helped me grow in this aspect.
PupilPrep has also helped me better my communication and patience skills, especially with those that are younger than me. Through interaction with a 7th grader twice a week, I can more fully understand her worldview and see my world from a new perspective. They say that younger children are much more creative because they are not shackled by the rigid ways of thinking that people gain as they grow, and I think interacting with younger people allows this effect to rub off. I notice how I am more able to adapt to day-to-day situations and how I also have become ever so slightly more creative. I also think that interacting with material I haven’t done since middle school is both refreshing and stimulating. As I’ve refamiliarized with such material, I’ve grown confident in my teaching and I genuinely feel like I am helping someone become better on the subject at hand. That’s a feeling that’s special to things like mentoring and teaching children, and I’m happy I can experience it. Being a mentor coach has also forced me to be more organized and generally “on top” of things. No more can I procrastinate college essays as other responsibilities such as extracurriculars. My tasks as mentor coach also require my time and attention. This makes me a more productive and proactive person, which has helped me in my life.
I think it goes without saying that my experience as a mentor has been extremely positive. I have nothing but praise for my mentee who comes ready to learn every week, no matter how long we have to review the subject. She is always positive and makes the experience run extremely smoothly. She also humors my sad self by sitting through some of my trite and dry lectures. But seriously, she’s a joy to be with and to learn from every time I get to see her. She brightens my day and makes me realize I am lucky to get to spend time with a person like her. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.
