Inner-city Sean

Last Spring, upon informing my boss that I was going to go to Africa, he asked an obviously reasonable question, "Why do you need to go all the way across the world to help African kids when there are kids right here in Denver that need help?" His motives aside, whatever they might be, I realized he had a good point. Although I don't plan on stopping going overseas, I knew that he was right that when I was in Denver I should be doing my part to help. Thank you for your criticizing, less than intentionally helpful, and enlightening advice Mr. Beggs.

With inspiration from my brother and belle-soeur (without them knowing how they'd inspired me - they mentor a whole inner-city family teaching them how to cook, attending parent/teacher conferences, communicating with the counselors) I decided that I wanted to look into becoming a mentor in Denver. I had talked to my roommates about this as one of them was interested in mentoring and the other studying to be a counselor, but it wasn't until I talked to another friend that I decided to partner with Colorado Youth at Risk to become a mentor.

Although I am currently in the application process, I don't foresee any roadblocks to this happening. I have completed all training (two nightly sessions and one 8 hour Saturday session). The gist of the program is that CYAR partners with a few high schools in Denver, including Manuel High School which is where my youth will be from and which has a 50% dropout rate and the highest gang activity of any high school in Colorado. There is a "Steps Ahead" program which most mentors are in. The Steps Ahead program is for Freshman only teaching them basic skills. I will be in the Touchstone program (which I'm excited for specifically for too many reasons to name) which is for upper grades. Each year of high school, the youth have different projects to prepare them for the future. It is completely voluntary for the youth and they have to have consent from their parents (one reason I'm excited about Touchstone is that they've already been in the program for a year and want to continue). It will be a one year commitment, and from there, we'll see what's going on.

As with any big thing like this, I know that I won't be able to fully prepare for this and I'm sure I will learn just as much from my youth as he will from me. I am more than eager to meet him and start mentoring and help him plan for his future. I hope it's not too hypocritical that I'm helping him prepare for his future when I have no idea what I'm doing in my future!