Mentoring Brilliant Minds

Today was the culmination of my mentorship through the Vancouver School Board. I'd found that the VSB had this program when I was looking at teaching a night class in bellydance.

I remember writing when I was about twelve. Some bad poems and maybe a few good ones,which I still have. I was far enough ahead by high school (grades 10-12 in Alberta) that I was allowed to take a Communications class instead of Shakespeare (Yay!). It consisted of writing mostly, creative writing. Poems, stories, novels. Like my mentee who was twelve when we started,I began to write a novel, all by hand. This was before computers, just barely, but they were expensive and big then.

I still have that early, partially written novel. It would probably equal about fifty pages. Growing up on Ray Bradbury, Edgar Allen Poe, Frank Herbert and Robert Heinlien, there was a healthy dose of the Most Dangerous Game in my book. Though I don't think I got that far into the story.

My mentee, Diana, was inspired partially by Harry Potter. It's this generation's answer to Lord of the Rings, not that they don't love that story too. When we started, her writing was already at university level with a few problems that many first writers do. She had about 100 pages of a fantasy novel. We worked through some exercises and eventually she decided to concentrate on a new book that was about two girls emailing each other in different countries, as part of their school project.

Through this project I learned how savvy thirteen-year-olds are. You get removed by more than a few years and you forget. Great insights, adult minds and the great adventures of moving into adulthood. I was impressed and Diana made me think of scope again, in people and in writing. And I mentored because if my class had gone farther in high school and I'd had more support, at home, and from teachers, I probably would have fostered ahead much faster. If I can help some kids and steer them a little closer to their dreams, why not? Everyone should have dreams and reach for them.

At the mentorship ceremony today they said there were 95 kids throughout the Vancouver schools and 77 mentors (some mentors took more than one kid). I watched these little blooming stars as young as six do amazing things. A seven-year-old girl sing like a Broadway star. A boy of equally young age, play like Mozart. Writers, sculptors, chemists, computer programmers, and many other interests. The kids were amazing. Of course they're the most gifted in their subjects but I think they all truly were thrilled that they had mentors. And the mentors ranged from just out of high school to grandmothers.

Diana gave me a very sweet card with flowers and chocolates, and each kid got up with their mentor to say what they liked about the program and their mentors. It was very touching. It was a time investment but it's a nice feeling to nurture, especially if you don't have a child. Even if you do, someone who can guide who shares their passion.

I'll have to see how time works out next year and whether I'll mentor again. I told Diana I'm still here to help her with her book (she'd like to have it at a publisher's by the time she's fourteen). But it was most gratifying seeing the end projects and the bright stars who have yet to hit supernova.