It’s “I Am a Mentor Day,” the day you’re given carte blanche to brag to all your friends that you are making a difference in a student’s life. BestPrep eMentors has a 13 year history, mentoring over 26, 600 students.
We asked a couple of our mentors, Gina Picard and Erin Lauterbach from Accenture, to share experiences they have had through eMentors and bring to you their own words as to why they volunteer year after year.
What is the value that you see in eMentors?
Erin: There is so much value in eMentors, it helps high school kids start to think about and ask questions about college and their careers, it also helps them to learn how to develop stronger communication skills and write professional emails which is a skill that will always be valuable for them throughout their lives. It gives the kids great perspective, some of my previous mentees never had a family member go to college so to hear them setting that goal for themselves and getting advice from someone who has gone to college is extremely valuable for them.
Why do you continue to do eMentors year after year?
Erin: It’s an easy and quick way to help out and give back, it is always great to see how excited the high schoolers are to meet their eMentors and how much they truly look forward to hearing from us. Another unexpected benefit for me is that it really forces me to reflect on my high school, college, career choices and provide thoughtful advice to someone, I always find I take extra care when writing my emails because I want to truly try and help them out.
What is the most fun part of eMentors for you?
Erin: The most fun part is the meet and greet, exchanging emails is good too but I always really enjoy finally meeting with my mentee in person and making that connection.
What was one standout experience you had with eMentors?
Gina: One of my mentees had started and was running a small business [and] taught me plenty about how it works!
Thank you Erin and Gina!