To celebrate National Mentoring Month, the Alexandria Mentoring Partnership sponsored a Story Contest, open to all Alexandria youth ages 5 to 18. The winner receives a $25 gift card. Contestants were given the choice to present their story in whatever medium they chose, such as an art piece.
The winner is 13 year old Jaylan. Read her story below!
My mentor has been working with me for four years. She has seen me evolve from age nine to 13. She is the first
mentor I have had. I get excited when it's the day for our session.
I used to hate reading. Now I really like it because it's become much easier for me due to working with my mentor. During my free time, I read much more often than I used to. Sometimes at school during home room when other kids
go on their computers to play games, I like to read a book instead.
My mentor compliments me when I tackle a new word by sounding it out, or make text connections with my own
experience; that makes me happy. She brings me little gifts from other countries she travels to so I know she was
thinking about me when she was away, which makes me feel good.
I work hard during sessions, but we also laugh a lot. We have fun reward days where we go to museums or out for
lunch or to the movies. My favorite place for lunch together is a local pizza place in her neighborhood. Sometimes we
go to events at Wright to Read, which are tons of fun.
My mentor and I have a lot of things in common. We both like crazy-nuts, a food we invented by mixing craisins and
peanuts. We both like French art, such as paintings by Marie Laurencin, Claude Monet, and Paul Gaugin. We both
have types of arthritis; we connect on how it feels to sometimes have pain.
On the drive to and from the session, I talk with her about what's going on in my life. And
between sessions, we text each other with news, such as when I got my long hair cut short.
She's the mentor I want to stay with forever. I want to thank her a million times because I am so grateful.
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