One Friday afternoon, Caroline Rice, an actress and dancer, receives an email.  This is a very special email is from someone important, her mentee!

Once a week, Caroline receives an email from a teenage girl and high school student, Alisha, that she mentors at a school in the Bronx through the iMentor program.  The pair also meets each month at an iMentor sponsored event, like museum trips or college workshops. The topic for this week’s email is, “A Look Back, A Look Forward”.  This email gave Caroline and Alisha an opportunity to reflect on their match thus far and plan goals for the future.

A bit of back-story…  Like most of our pairs, Caroline and Alisha were nervous about meeting each other for the first time.   This is nothing unusual when pairs first meet.  This email helped Caroline and Alisha reflect on that first moment and how far they have come since. 

Alisha: “When I first heard of iMentor I wasn’t interested because it was in the summer time … and to tell you the truth I wasn’t really listening.  But then when I was in school and they came to talk about it, I was excited.  I was excited to meet a new person in my life that could help me greatly.  I am happy I have an outgoing cool person like you. “

Caroline: “I am so glad you changed your mind two years ago when you decided to do iMentor.  I am also glad that we get along so well...  Thanks for saying I'm cool... You know I think you are awesome.  :)”

After that first moment and the first meeting, their nerves were set at ease and they hit the ground running!  Caroline jumped right in and helped Alisha start planning for her bright future.

Alisha: “The most interesting thing I learned from you is…how important figuring out my steps to college are and that made me more open.  A lot of my peers say, "I’m just a sophomore, I don’t need to worry about that", but little do they know it’s GOOD to start early…I hope you liked this email =], can't wait for the next event.”

Caroline: “You said last night that your friends say to you that you should not be thinking about college when you are only a sophomore.  I am 100% certain that you should be!  I know you know this.  Last night we worked on the questionnaire and now you know what you need to do, this week:  have a meeting with your guidance counselor regarding credits for this year, learn more about Regents exams and go to the website to learn more about the PSAT/SAT tests.  Please remember to make this appointment and to speak with your counselor about all three of these things.  Also, remember to ask her to PUSH you.  You gotta be there!!!  Word???!!!”

As an actress auditioning all over the city while maintaining a demanding “day job”, Caroline has a particularly hectic schedule.  When she is involved with projects in New York, her schedule is erratic and she often works unusual hours.   iMentor’s flexible structure has made it possible for Caroline to build a special and impactful relationship with Alisha, regardless of her schedule.  “I email from Atlanta and LA,” she explains.  “The prompts are a great way to get to know each other and get to know about each other’s environment and community.  Listen, when I was becoming a young adult no one asked me what I thought of serious topics like backpack searches, grafiti and my ideal world in high school.  These topics help us learn about each other’s experiences and points of view.”

Caroline considers herself fortunate to have had several people in her life who have provided professional and personal guidance.  She in turn, wants to help Alisha set college and career goals and learn to build a network of her own.  She says: “The reality is that a career in performing arts is really hard. Alisha has such a creative mind—it is fascinating to see it work.  I want to help her figure out what she wants to do and what she needs to do to make it happen.” 

Caroline is one example of how our mentors are changing lives every day. How will you make a change? Become a mentor today!