Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend a the Summer Institute on Youth Mentoring at Portland State University.

Fisrt of all, I was unaware that there are organizations that are devoted to providing mentors to youth, Second off all, I was unaware that so many people care about the state of the youth population. It was a pleasant surprise.

My job was to inform researchers and executive directors of these mentoring programs about the need for mentors, but not only the need for them, but rather provide them with tools that mentors should have when dealing with youth in extenuating circumstances. I communicated that mentors have to communicate with youth and be consistent and a stable force in their lives. In my experience, it was the fact that my mentor was able to realize the potential I had to do great things.

Also, my mentors ability to stand by me even when I pushed her away was crucial to developing a relationship that mentor/mentee relationship. Mentors can be some of the strongest allies youth have so they should not take their job lightly because the impact they have can either be detrimental and deepen the trauma of a youth or it can beautiful and highly influential to the progress of the youth.

I think that one on one mentoring is awesome whether formally or informally placed, but one of the biggest things to me lacking in terms of mentor/ mentee matching is the lack of programs targeted toward young African American men. I do believe that young minority men are falling through the cracks. They are more likely to succumb to deviant behavior, homelessness, unemployment, and even death as a result of the a fore mention things. All youth should have a option to succeed and a mentor can give a youth that option by doing nothing more than loving them.

For it is through love that mentors can help raise the self esteem, sense of security, and overall awareness of the youth that will guide them and help them make decisions that reflect a love of self which they obtain through the love of another.

The power of a mentor can't be touched.