What I Mean to A

We had our end of session ceremony at Teen Voices tonight. Mentors read paragraphs they had written to their mentees and vice versa.

This is what one of my mentees, A, had to say about me:

Saturday morning I woke up waiting for your call, not knowing who you were but still anticipating. 9:30, checked my phone, still no call. 10:00, checked it again, still no call. Hours later, checked my phone, OH NO! A missed call from an unknown number. Could it be you? Yes! There's a message: "hi a-, its your mentor Alex, if you coule give me a call back that would be great. Thanx."
Yay! You finally called. I called you back excited to talk to you.
At orientation we learned about first impressions. Guess what? You passed. You made a great first impression. You were funny, and mellow, and just down to earth. When I finally met you that Tuesday in person, you brought us little welcome baggies. Thank you again.
Working with you here has been a very appreciative experience. You may not know it, but I learned a lot from you. You were always somewhat insightful, and fun to talk to. We could talk to you about anything. You always ask us how our days are going and if we were frustrated you allowed us to vent before beginning. you were very understanding. i also found your life very interesting, and I can say that we have something in common that I can relate to.
Soooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! Stay sweet, and I love youuuuu!
Thank you for everything.

I just want to be sure to say that I am not posting A---'s paragraph to toot my own horn. I am posting it because I do not know how to express what a joy it has been to mentor at Teen Voices and to be part of the lives of these incredible teen girls. So, maybe by reading their words, you can begin to understand. Maybe it will inspire you to pursue your own volunteer interests or spark a volunteer interest you did not know you had.