August's Experience

Michael's Success

Letter written to a school principal from the mother of a Project Eye-To-Eye mentee

While you were new last year, Michael was beginning his second year. I would like to tell why we felt the last two years were the most successful school years Michael had ever had. Prior to him transferring to your district, Michael was extremely behind in his classes and had a very low self-esteem. He didn't trust the school system and had fell through the cracks. Mrs. Levin was amazing. She worked very hard at bringing him up to a level of academics that would help him succeed. She kept in contact with me and worked long hours trying to find a way to break through to him. She did break through. She helped him see he was capable of achieving success by having him join Project Eye-To-Eye. He was able to see that his learning disabilities would not keep him from going to college. He also learned not to be ashamed that he didn't learn like others. I know when he came to Golf he didn't trust anyone, and soon he knew she had his back. He felt he could tell her anything and she would work with him. He began advocating for himself, which was a huge milestone. She prepared him for his transition to high school. He was able to understand Algebra before the school year ended. She helped him to learn to work well with teachers he previously had not. His confidence level rose quickly and he began to shine. I have never been so proud of him and thankful he met her. She goes above and beyond the call of being a teacher. She cared and made a difference in his life.

Justin's Story

David Flink's first experience with mentoring brought him into the life of a 5th grader who had never found success in school. Justin had been held back a grade because by the age of twelve he was still unable to read. On the first day David entered the classroom, he was taken aback by Justin's physical maturity. Justin was not only older than his peers, but his physical features were that of a man, making him an imposing presence in the classroom. His stature was further amplified by a tough guy persona that screamed out to the world, "Back Off." It didn't take long for David to realize that underneath Justin's facade of a man-boy was a very shy and insecure child. David also recognized that he knew nothing about how to help this child. He knew only how to be a friend to Justin, to help him with his reading, and to help Justin gain confidence through success.

After working with him for a year, David asked Justin, "What do you want to do with your life?" Justin responded, "I want to be a rock star." "Why?" asked David "Because rock stars always have lots of money, people like them, and they don't have to work too hard," replied Justin. David then asked Justin why he thought he would be good at being a rock star, and Justin replied he did not know. Over the course of the next couple of months, David continued to ask Justin to think about what he was good at and what he enjoyed, and each time the response was "Nothing" or "I don't know."

One day, Justin asked David to his home for dinner. David arrived at Justin's house and was immediately greeted with wonderful smells coming from the kitchen. David was surprised to see Justin moving about the kitchen with the skill of a master chef. David said to Justin, "I didn't know you liked to cook." Justin responded, "I cook all the time for my family. I like cooking because it makes people happy, and I get to try new things. It's something I'm good at." David smiled because this was the first time Justin had identified something that he was good at and enjoyed doing for other people.

David graduated from college and Justin was assigned another mentor. David thought of Justin often because through his relationship with Justin, David realized what he was good at and what he wanted to do with his life professionally - helping children by being a teacher and continuing the mission of Project Eye-To-Eye as its executive director. Two years later, David received a very excited voice mail from Justin, " I got into one of the best culinary schools in the US. I'm going to be a chef."

David and Justin's paths crossed again a few years later. David visited the school where he first mentored Justin. Much to his surprise, he saw Justin, now a grown man, sitting at the same table that he had sat at with David eleven years earlier. This time, Justin was the mentor trying to connect with a shy and insecure twelve year-old. Justin walked up to David and said, "You helped me and now it's my time to give back."

Sally's Success

Sally, an eighth grader with dyslexia, sat on the floor looking around the room at the peers and college students that would be participating in Project Eye-To-Eye. Sally had been diagnosed with dyslexia in the second grade. She worked hard to hide her learning differences by sitting with a learning specialist two days a week and with a speech pathologist every Sunday. Sally received high B's and A's in school but still believed she could not succeed at college. Through Project Eye-To-Eye, Sally was partnered with an older student named Lisa. Lisa was a psychology and studio arts major and was also diagnosed with dyslexia in the second grade. Through working with Lisa, Sally's perspective on her own abilities began to change.

Each week, Sally showed subtle changes. One week, Sally asked Lisa what it was like to be dyslexic in college and what accommodations she received. Another week Sally spontaneously initiated a conversation with her classmate about how to ask their teacher for extra help. By the end of the year, Sally recognized her ability to succeed and declared that she was going to go to college. Sally is now preparing to speak on panels for parents and teachers about her experiences with learning disabilities and next year she will be a Project Eye-To-Eye mentor, working with yet another younger student with dyslexia.

Lisa's Transformation

"When I describe my experience with Project Eye-To-Eye, I usually focus on the children. Sometimes I tell a story about one of the breakthrough moments made during an art session or mention how delighted the kids were to be paired with fun, dedicated college kids. I say that working with learning disabled middle school students was challenging and rewarding, serious and playful, all of which is true. Equally true, however, is what I tend not to talk about: the profound impact Project Eye-To-Eye had on us, the mentors.

I found it absolutely empowering to serve as a role model and friend to an eighth grader struggling with many of the same issues that I had not only struggled with at his age, but that continued to pose challenges to me as a college student. Mentoring Kevin was not about pretending I didn't struggle in school. It was about showing Kevin - and myself - how my challenges were inextricable from my strengths.

The following year, as a senior in college, I shifted from a Project Eye-To-Eye mentor to coordinator of my school's chapter. Over the course of the year, my role as coordinator allowed me to see how, to a person, each member of the group was positively affected by the organization. I watched juniors and seniors gain renewed enthusiasm for their classes and freshman gain new confidence in their own abilities, which in turn inspired me, a senior on the brink of graduation. I understood that, as mentors, we would aim to empower young students with learning disabilities. I didn't anticipate how doing so would simultaneously empower us."

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