2021-12-13– I haven’t met him yet.

He’s a high school student I’ve been matched with through the iMentor program. I joined the program more than a year ago after Kit joined and learned they are looking for men to be mentors. (If you are interested, let me know.)

Like most things mid-COVID, the program has been in a bit of a turmoil. It’s my understanding that mentors actually met with their mentees in person pre-COVID. I don’t know how that worked. Currently, we meet by video conference. I don’t know how that works either because my first meeting is tomorrow.

COVID also threw off the process for matching volunteers with their students. I applied over a year ago. I went through a security check and had my fingerprints taken between shpritzes of hand sanitizer. They hoped to match me sometime during the second semester. That didn’t happen. But I am matched now.

I know very little about him other than the fact that he’s a junior at a local high school. Most of the matches are made with juniors. The purpose of the program is to provide some personal guidance while the student prepares for and applies for college. We’re supposed to follow them for a while even after they’ve started college.

So far, we’ve exchanged brief “emails.” I put “email” in quotes because it’s not regular email. All communication goes through an iMentor app, which allows for supervision by the iMentor folks and/or the school. This is part of the security provided for the student—like the fingerprints.

Our emails were short, upbeat, and chatty. All I know is that my mentee is anxious to learn how to drive.

High school.

He knows that I prefer to ride my bike.

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