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2003-10-26 - 8:03 a.m.

Yesterday I went to theTenth Annual Mentoring Symposium

"The Power of Mentoring: An Experience That Lasts a Lifetime" with my mentee, N, where we participated in such workshops as �Hip Hop as a tool for Life Skills Development� (Remember this one: "Its like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from going under") and �Gang Awareness� where we learned to identify street gangs and how to stay out of trouble.

I enjoyed the experience about as much as one can at 9:00 AM on a Saturday.

Most important was the time spent with my mentee who, in addition to learning how little I know about Hip Hop and how addicted I am to coffee, received a small stipend for attending which will allow her to buy winter boots.

I will say that it was extremely gratifying to see so many young people tell how much their mentors mean to them and vice versa.

Mentoring has been one of the best experiences of my life. Anyone out there who would like to make a difference should consider it.

How else would I get to hang out with a teenage girl who I can gossip with and go to cheesy teen movies. . . I mean besides having one myself and then raising it for sixteen years.

Besides giving me an outlet for my inner teen, hanging out with N reminds to appreciate all the good in my life - as she does in spite of, or maybe because of, all the adversity she's faced so far.

Trust me, you'll get as much (if not more) out of mentoring as they will.

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