For a while I felt like I wasn’t fitting in, it felt like I was struggling with school and I needed the support but that was because I wasn’t confident in myself. During the summer I have been rethinking about how could I be more involved with the community and my school but nothing really came to mind. A few weeks went by and I received an email from the Latin American Student Organization (LASO) seeking students to be mentors for incoming students of color. At first I as hesitant, I felt like there was no way I could help someone. It felt like I had nothing to offer but I decided to sign up because I put myself back to freshman year, what if I needed a mentor and there was non available for me.
I received an email a few days later explaining that they have reached their max and there are no more students left that need a mentor and I took that as my sign. My sign that maybe I wasn’t meant to be a mentor so I pushed it past me and the weeks went by and I moved into college to begin my sophomore year. After around two weeks into college I received an email from LASO asking me if I am still interested in becoming a mentor, because a student is in need of one and I wanted to say no. I didn’t know how I would be able to help or if I could. But after much consideration I decided to give it a try and I met my mentee. We were both really shy towards each other but I pushed myself to make conversation first which is something I thought I would never do. I learned a lot about her and was able to answer any questions or doubts she had. When I had dinner with my mentee it reminded me of when I was a freshman, coming to campus not sure what to expect or who to ask for help , I was on my own. But I was happy I agreed to be a mentor because I was able to give my mentee valuable information and resources that she might need one day throughout her next years in college.
