YMCA Brother/Sister Program Mentor
I was hired as a volunteer mentor within this program in the fall of 2020 and was matched with a 14 (now 15) year old female with brain cancer (now in remission). My duties as her mentor include meeting with her for 2-3 hours per week, for at least 9 months. Our meetings consist of getting together to do something fun together or to simply learn more about each other. Generally speaking, I am there to be a positive outlet in her life. We have done things together like wander around the mall, share a meal, and travel to a local coffee shops to sip on something warm and chat about life.
I believe that this experience helped me to meet Leadership rubric level 4 in 'values' because I used my personal theories and values of leadership within this organization to be a successful mentor to my youth. I used my strengths of being diligent and communicative to plan and meet my mentee every week at a scheduled time. I was able to plan creative activities for meetings, such as "pizza and The Office night" at my apartment, for example. I also had to converse monthly with our case manager in the program regarding my progress with getting to know my mentee, and those meet ups were initiated by me and communicated successfully.
Being a mentor taught me not only to be good at planning and seeing events through, but that I have the ability to use my strong interpersonal relationship skills, such as being outspoken, kind, and a good listener to build trust within this new relationship and provide a safe place for my mentee to express herself around me. This ability is one that I will most definitely take with me on the path to becoming a physician, as I will need to be able to provide a safe, communicable place in my practice for my patients to feel heard and that they are being treated with care. I also learned that sometimes new interactions can lead to uncomfortable situations/conversations; my mentee once described times of her past that were nothing like anything I have personally witnessed or had to endure. I remember sitting there and thinking “how would I want someone to respond to me with something like this?” I decided that In some of these moments, I needed to sit back, listen, and provide further questions for her to continue opening up, if she pleased. These types of situations and conversations were hard. I was so very used to being fully prepared for everything in my life, but this situation taught me that sometimes I need to slow down and listen to make someone feel most comfortable. This lesson can also be taken with me into the future when listening to the diverse patient histories that I will surely come across.
