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A Call to Mentor the Youth
Written by: Jason F. Gomes
VP of Service, Drexel Circle K & VP of Volunteerism, Service Organization Summit
The youth are the future in this world. They are the ones who will one day
become doctors, scientists, teachers, nurses, accountants, business managers,
and other positive and highly esteemed careers. However, they may also be the
ones who may become drug dealers, con artists, homeless or are in a career or
lifestyle that is unsatisfying and unpleasant for them. The youth need a
mentor; a person who is happy, successful in life and has achieved much
success and good fortune. The mentors who can teach and reach out to the
youth are we, the college students. The youth that we can reach out to are
the elementary students, teenagers and high school students.
According to my definition of a mentor, it is a person who spends any
insignificant amount of time with the youth by educating, socializing, playing
and other positive influences with the youth in a way that will bring a
positive experience that they will keep in their minds for the rest of their
lives. A mentor does not have to spend one day a week with an individual
youth. She can spend any amount of time with any individual(s) at any time
that she can accommodate into her schedule. A mentor can influence an
individual by tutoring at an after-school program, take him and his friends to
a movie theater, or just hang out and share with each other their goals,
future plans and beliefs. A mentor can engage in a regular discussion with
teenagers at a runaway shelter. A mentor can help students achieve for their
high school diploma or GED equivalency. Mentors can perform a list of great
deeds with the youth that will bring about a positive influence in their
lives. The youth will move forward in a positive path toward happiness,
success, and good fortune; a path guided by the mentor.
We college students live great lives. Sure, we all have problems whether it
is financial, personal, family or other types. Despite all these problems we
possess two great gifts that many people either want and/or don’t possess.
The gifts that we possess are a high school diploma and a seat in college.
Earning a high school diploma is a great achievement. With this diploma, we
are ready and able to go into the real world and live our life. This high
school diploma will show that we are ready for adulthood. I would estimate
that 7 out of 10 people in this country are in possession of a high school
diploma. The remaining 3 people are not proud that they did not earn a high
school diploma. Most of these people are not congratulating themselves for
not earning the diploma; some of them may regret not earning this diploma and
wish that they could change what happened in the past. We should be happy and
proud that we are in possession of the high school diploma.
In addition, we should be even happier that we are pursuing a college degree
at this fine institution. Not everyone goes to college. In fact, many people
want to go to college but cannot go either due to financial, family or other
reasons. A dream of going to college may not come true for some people. We
should feel blessed and proud that we are pursuing a college degree at this
fine institution. With a college diploma, we can do anything we want to do
with our lives. Achieve for any dream, career, lifestyle; the possibilities
are endless.
Okay, that sounds great. We have appreciation for these two gifts. So what
should we do now? Answer, become a mentor. Integrate the roles and
responsibilities of being a mentor into our personal lives. A mentor can
influence the youth in such a way that the achievement of earning a high
school diploma, college degree and/or being happy with their lifestyle and
career can come true as a result of spending time mentoring the youth.
Let me tell you about myself and my purpose for writing this commentary.
Reflecting on my life these past couple of weeks I have come to the
realization that I have led a pretty decent life. I have seen some really
great accomplishments and moments of happiness. At the same time, I have seen
one too many problems in my life and have also seen some of my most important
and meaningful dreams fail miserably. However, when looking at my life as a
whole, I have seen that I am greatly blessed. I am a healthy individual who
is in good physical, mental and emotional condition. I possess two of
everything: two arms, two legs, two hands, two feet, two of everything. I
also see that I am very lucky to have a seat at this fine institution.
However, I see that a good amount of today’s youth do not possess all of these
great fortunes that they so rightfully deserve.
I watch the news and see that some of the youth are involved in armed
robbery, murder and other violent and criminal acts. I read in the newspaper
that youth commit heinous acts in their own schools. In school, many students
skip their classes, take drugs on campus, get into school fights and cause a
lot of trouble that brings about a bad effect on the school environment. Some
of the students find themselves in a bad crowd where they received many bad
influences that can take a sad toll in their lives. Many of these students
may have been raised in bad neighborhoods where there is a high violent and
crime level.
The purpose of writing this commentary is not to urge, convince, or demand
that we mentor the youth. I am not a leader for a movement nor am I preaching
a cause. All I am offering in this commentary is to show the readers that
mentoring the youth can bring positive and long term results in their lives.
After reading this commentary it is your decision on how you may want to
approach this situation. To those people who do mentor the youth or now have
considered beginning mentoring the youth, they will give you much great
appreciation in the future.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Jason F. Gomes
