On Friday, April 27th , Lawline.com had another opportunity to team up with Big Brother Big Sisters and participate in the Youth Development Program again! Besides myself, we had a new team of mentors come and speak with high school seniors who were majoring in Marketing.
Here's what some of the mentors had to say:
Trisha: It is so different from when I went to high school and I loved seeing how it has changed. I learned that the kids are really mature for their age and know a lot more then what I did at that age. I think I taught them what really happens in college and that they should prepare out what they want to do and be okay with change because it will happen. I really had a great time and wish I could have spent more time there and really got to learn more about the kids and the school.
Ryan: The best part of the program was getting the chance to meet every student as opposed to just a few of them. It really gave me an opportunity to see just how unique in their interests and yet how similar in their fears each of them were. I felt that many of them were fairly focused and set on what they wanted to do. I expected the students to be attentive, but not entirely enthusiastic about having strangers coming in and talking about their jobs. Instead they were happy to talk about everything, and were open about what was going on in their lives and receptive to any advice I could give, no matter how useful/useless. I'm impressed at how much more focused and driven the students are than I was at that age.
Corey: My favorite was just being able to be real with the students who are basically where I was 5 years ago. The hardest part was engaging with the students who were shy. I tried teaching them that it's ok to explore your options. I think the enjoyment of it all exceeded my expectations.
Andrew: The best part of the program was how eager the students were to listen and absorb everything that I shared with them. it appeared they wanted to be there learning as much as I wanted to be there teaching. I was really impressed how mature the students were. I was fortunate that I did not have to work while in high school and could just concentrate on my studies. However, I do think entering the workforce while at school does have advantages. I stressed that It is important to get involved in activities and network ones self to meet as many people as you could. Networking is the most important skill in the work force today. It was an experience in which I felt great after I left because I felt that I positively impacted others which is something that I love to do.
Steph: There was this girl was dying to ask me about public relations and I was glad to be able to give her some advice on course work in college and internships. The hardest part was getting those who didn't want to talk, to talk. I attempted varying the topics (school, friends, parties etc). I hope I taught them that change is okay! Especially changing your major, even schools. That it's important to figure out what you don't like as much as what you do like.
