What does it mean to be an Ambassador of Mentoring?

Arielle Sobov
For Kids Only
Salem, MA

It’s difficult for me to answer the question “why did you choose to serve a year as an ambassador of mentoring?” Truthfully, this opportunity fell into my lap. I didn’t know much about the Americorps, and had never looked into too many service opportunities in America. I heard about this position through my host site, For Kids Only Afterschool, an organization I have always admired because I believe in its mission and what it does for children and families. My adventure as a member of the Highland Street Corps began as an interest in creating a mentoring program for FKO, but grew when I heard about the second part of this position- being a part of the corps. I didn’t know what this meant exactly. I thought my role at FKO would be individual work. But when I heard that I would meet with my corps once a month, spend four full weeks together throughout the year, participate in team building activities, rely on each other for advice and support, coordinate and participate in service events together, learn about leadership through readings and discussions at Wheelock College, and most importantly, meet 17 other people interested in youth development and non-profit work, I was hooked. Hearing about this part of my duty as an Ambassador of Mentoring, I wondered how I could have never looked into doing the AmeriCorps in the first place. This was nothing I ever thought about doing, but everything I was looking for in a position.

Even after knowing about all of these opportunities that came with being in a Corps, I still did not realize how much I would really depend on my Corps and get to know them. I went into my first day of orientation half expecting everyone to be shy and quiet, and half expecting everyone to be leaders with big personalities and a lot to say. I walked out of my first day of orientation feeling confident that this corps was a mixture of both. Even at the end of the week, there was no pulling teeth to get people to talk, and there was no fight between people to be heard. We balanced each other out- a perfect mixture of North, South, East and West leadership styles.

So what does it mean to be in a Corps? It means a constant sense of support. I know I can send an email to any of the Ambassadors asking a silly question, and they will answer me the best way they know how. It’s texting another Ambassador to see if they want to meet up outside of work, and being able to have a conversation that doesn’t have anything to do with the mentoring field. It’s about wearing silly masks and goofing off at a fundraiser we’ve put on to raise money for youth mentoring. It’s about being excited to go to monthly meetings because it means learning even more about my Corps members, about leadership and about myself.

Being part of a corps is the support I need to continue to do well at my host site. FKO does not currently have a mentoring program, so my job is to create and implement one. My day consists of researching, creating policies and procedures, recruiting future mentors, creating a mentor training, and getting to know the children our mentors will be working with. It is amazing to be working towards something that benefits more than just myself- it benefits FKO as an organization, the children, and those whose lives will be changed from making the incredible decision to become a mentor to a child in need.

For only being in this position for 3 months, that’s definitely saying a lot. I already feel close to my fellow Corps members, and know we have so much growing to do still together as a Corps and as individuals. I know I will come away from this experience with more than a year’s worth of experience under my belt. I’ll come away learning different leadership styles, seeing what works and what doesn’t, how to build a sustainable program from scratch and most importantly, be ever grateful  that I decided to become a part of the Highland Street Corps.