On National Mentoring Month, a Thank You to Our Beloved Mentors

By Marlee Kimmick
Girls Write Now Intern

Here at Girls Write Now, we strive to make an impact on the lives and writing of New York City girls, and there is no way that we would be able to do so without the dedication, knowledge, and compassion that our mentors bring to the organization. January has been designated National Mentoring Month by President Obama, so we wanted to send a special thanks to our incredible mentors.

At Mentor Training Part II, held on Saturday, Jan. 9^th at Girls Write Now, Board member and long-time mentor Andrea Juncos led a toast to GWN’s mentors saying: “We wanted to take this time to celebrate all of you, the mentors, for working with your girls on writing and so much more. Your impact is huge, even when you don’t feel like it is…and our girls are so lucky to have you. President Obama calls mentoring a ‘unique and timeless gift’ – we feel the same way and clearly so do your mentees. Here they celebrate you in their own words”

My mentor helps me the most when she listens to my ongoing problems, shows that she understands my innermost and outermost struggles, makes my writing stronger by helping me to reveal the truth in it, and, just when I think I'm ready to fall over, she lifts me up with her amazing words of advice, and her own personal stories. She gives me confidence!

My mentor helps me the most when she uses her superhero-like editing skills to help me revise my important essays for colleges. She's also great when she listens to my totally pathetic teenage problems and ACTUALLY gives GOOD advice. I appreciate her so much!!

My mentor help me the most when she's being herself. She makes me laugh when i feel like crying, she's like a friend and mother to me, she always worries about my safety, my college problems, and my life's direction. She always has great advice for me. She's always making me feel like everything will be alright. i hope she doesn't change much, she has a great personality and is very honest and straightforward. i really love her and i thank God and GWN for letting me meet such a wonderful and kind person.

My mentor helps me the most when she calls to see how I'm doing.

So, from all of us at Girls Write Now: Thank you mentors, for everything that you do. Happy National Mentoring Month!