i'd like to be a mentor...you?

Like several others that have started a blog but never gone through with it, I fell a victim to the same transient urge to start writing. There are several grand/mediocre thoughts that have run through my mind, which, if I blogged about, I was sure to build on and take them somewhere. My only lame excuse is that time did not permit me to do so. Now that my semester's over and I'm back home in Dubai, I'd like to give this one more shot. It's almost 10 am here today, and I've decided to go to school today to re-visit my alma mater.

The reasons for doing this are two fold. Firstly, I'd like to see how everyone's doing and relive some of those fond memories I share. Secondly, I'd like to bounce an idea I have off my principal and a couple of teachers. Since the only way for me to give my racing mind a logical pace is to write about it, I'd like to tell you about my idea.

I graduated from school in '05 and hell have I come a long way from then. I've been through 7 semesters or 3.5 years at the University of Michigan and to say the least, it's completely changed the way I think. I'd like to think that my school has something to do with this - it is where I learned to communicate my thoughts and to think logically. While this is true, I still wish I was not conformed only to my textbooks and was given a chance to see beyond the classroom. My life was defined by my grades then, which is where things went sideways. Having learned by experience, I'd like to help other students realize how very crucial it is to explore - by reading, by helping, by learning and by giving. My words may sound very abstract and cliched, but I really feel that each one of us as students needs to think big.

Almost a hundred students graduate from high school every year - each one of them goes on to figure life out. How many of us come back and contribute what we've learned along the way? This is the question I like to answer through a mentorship program at Dubai Modern High School. The Alumni association has helped bring a bunch of alumni together, and I'd like to help current high-school students leverage off this network.

Here's how I was thinking of starting this - students from grade 9 upwards will be given the opportunity to sign up for a mentor. They will be able to contact the mentor mainly through email and touch base with him/her. It will be more of a resource available to students than an activity that is mandated. Ofcourse, this requires the joint participation of both students and alumni. If such a program does get started, I feel that students will have a lot to gain from the lessons learned by alumni in the bigger picture. If you are an alum reading this blog, I ask you to leave a comment if you are interested.

In the hope that I can encourage such an activity, I'm visiting school in a couple of hours.

Personally, I feel I would've benefited greatly if I had a mentor while in school. The simple lessons we learn along the way are often the most valuable ones we have to offer. So, let's share them with current high-school students. Let's kindle in them a fire to question the status quo, explore themselves and understand what they're really passionate about.