“It was with the anticipation and the excitement of a new school year that I went to Cole School on Wednesday, September 7. I am not an eager student anxious about a new school ye
ar, a different teacher and maybe classmates I don’t know. I am a returning mentor for Kids Hope USA. For three years, I have mentored Jeremy.[1] He has grown in self-confidence and an understanding of himself as his own individual. Jeremy is gaining skill in relating to other people. I am eager to see him again and begin a new project of discovery and learning.
I was making mental notes on my plan for the session when I entered the school office and asked for Jeremy. When the secretary used the intercom to call him to the office, his teacher said he wasn’t in the room. I checked the library and didn’t find him. Shortly after a global call on the intercom, the principal entered the office with Jeremy and another boy right behind him. Jeremy was somber with his eyes looking at the floor. He looked at me out of the corner of his eyes but I didn’t think he really wanted me to see him.
Jeremy and the other boy apparently had some disagreement that had resulted in involving the Principal. They were now going to have to work together on a project supervised by the principal. The principal suggested I go ahead and work with Jeremy. The boys could do their project after we were through.
The secretary assigned us to a room in the office suite. Jeremy immediately sat down and rested his chin on his hands on the table. So I sat in a chair next to him, rested my chin on my hands on the table and looking right at him asked, “Jeremy, what’s going on?” He mumbled some indistinguishable sounds. Instead of trying to find out what he said, I took my cue from what apparently was a disagreement between him and the other boy.
“Jeremy, sometimes we disagree with someone but when we do we still have to find a way to get along. I know it’s hard, but that’s just what we have to do.” I continued talking in that vein and then I noticed him ducking his head and wiping an eye with his sleeve. He did it again and then raised his head, still with a somber, dark expression.
I felt it was time to move on with our session—the principal could handle the problem—and Jeremy seemed ready as well. He had felt safe with me, his mentor, to let emotion surface. We had known each other for three years, done projects together, worked through other problems together, gone to the zoo together. Surely we could work through this together.
By the time our hour was over, he was ready to do what he knew he had to do—a project with the other boy. And I was glad for the start of a new year with Jeremy. There was still an edge of excitement about it.”
This story was submitted by our friends from Third Baptist Church in St. Louis, MO.
[1] The real name is not used to protect privacy.