Get Out and Give Back – Hoop Dreams Scholarship Fund

Get Out and Give Back – Hoop Dreams Scholarship FundBy Jane Hess

This column is about to take on a new twist – a twist that will hopefully encourage more of you to “get out and give back.” Starting with this story, I’m volunteering with a new organization or event each month then writing about what I’ve done and learned. Hopefully, this will encourage you to try one or more of these projects yourself!

This month’s venture was with the Hoop Dreams Scholarship Fund (HDSF) (http://www.hoopdreams.org). Since 1996, HDSF has helped send nearly 750 DC public high school students to college, awarded over 1,100 academic college scholarships and renewals and prepared hundreds of kids with their year long college prep mentoring program, internship program and SAT prep partnership program with the Princeton Review.

Mentoring one of these students is the foundation of their volunteer program. I had signed up as a back-up mentor, meaning I would help a student each month with their college application process if the regular mentor was not available.

This was outside my comfort zone – and may be for you too. Teenagers don’t occupy my universe so I watched with envy as the other mentors, most of whom are in their 20’s, chatted as effortlessly with their students as if they’d been BFFs (that’s “best friends forever” – trying to get the lingo here) since grade school.

In the last two meetings I’ve been paired with Chandra (not her real name). We’ve approached each other with the same apprehension, wondering what we were going to get out of this. Although HDSF provides trained facilitators during these workshops, gremlins of failure swirled around me as I imagined Chandra being the only student denied a scholarship because her back-up mentor was such a dweeb. Then, awkwardly, we began to talk. A few short questions later, Chandra was telling me about her 3.3 GPA, varsity sports achievements, her part-time job that worked her til 10 p.m. on some school nights and how she had trouble focusing on homework because she was tired (duhhh). The next meeting she told me about her godfather who’s been her role model, father and moral compass. By the time she finished her story, she’d completed her college-app outline of describing the most influential person in her life. Then it was time to go home. Too, too early. And both of us are looking forward to seeing each other next month.

Moral of story? Sometimes you need to get out of your comfort zone. Sometimes you do people the greatest good by asking questions – and don’t forget this part – listening to the answer. And sometimes even teenagers need you.

Get out and give back.

Jane Hess is a free-lance writer and life coach. You can send your comments to getoutandgiveback@hotmail.com