Minds Matter

Since September, Dan and I have been participating in a volunteer program called Minds Matter. With chapters in major cities through out the U.S., MM pairs gifted high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds with young professionals who serve as their mentors - guiding them through applications to elite summer school programs, SAT prep and, ultimately, the college admissions process. The mentors work with students in pairs and the whole group meets in an allocated space at the Children's Muesuem every Saturday from noon until 2pm. The majority of the mentors are twenty-somethings who are lawyers or work in finance, most went to elite private schools (to wit: my co-mentor works in private equity but is heading off to Harvard Business School in the fall).

All of the students in the program must have demonstrated academic achievement (most go to charter schools for gifted students) but all come from backgrounds typically considered "socio-economically disadvantaged" - i.e. low income without any family members who have ever attended college. My student, M, is a sophmore at an excellent, local charter school - she is terrific at math and science, but struggles in English and social studies. She wants to be a small business owner one day and hopes to go to Babson for business as an undergraduate. Our goal this year was to help her get into a "fancy" private summer school program with a scholarship (Minds Matter also helps to defray costs as much as possible where there are gaps in funding).

Its a wonderful experience for these students to go away into new surroundings and learn and work along side kids they don't normally interact with (i.e. wealthy, white kids). Studies have shown that often when students from inner-city backgrounds arrive at college, they're often over-whelmed or intimidated by the perceived competition - not because they aren't smart enough or hardworking enough but because its a totally new environment and they haven't as many diverse experiences or opportunities as their counter-parts. It's a huge help for their future (not just academically but socially as well) to get experience living away from home in a college-like setting to prove to themselves (and future college admission committees) that they can hang and succeed in any setting, that they are every bit "good enough" to be at those schools. Because they are.

I am so excited that M got accepted to Phillips-Exeter Academy for the summer, where she'll be living in NH with other bright students from all over the U.S. for 4 weeks and taking Pre-Trig, Economics and Intro to French - she is going to love it and do awesome. M applied for five schools and it was a lot of working gathering all the necessary paper work and financial aid information, as well as helping her write admisssions essays for the first time ever. True story: her first draft of her first essay was sent to me as a text message! It's funny but we needed to have a little chat about Microsoft Word and, um, spell check then we were all set. And it all paid off and she earned it! Now we're working on SAT prep for the rest of the school year - Minds Matter runs every Saturday from September to May. It's a big committment to show up every Saturday, in the middle of the day, when we would sometimes love to make other plans, for a few hours - but Dan and I have done it together (he has a different student, she's going to Harvard for the summer) and its been a great experience.

This Saturday night was the first of what is sure to now be an annual fundraising gala to support Minds Matter in Boston. The 80 mentors sold 500(!) tickets among their friends, and the planning committee did a fantastic job planning and getting almost all of the food, booze and services donated so the profit margin per $100 ticket was very high. A great '80's cover band played the event for free and there was even a donated oyster bar. Dan's co-worker, who had recruited us to the program initially, hosted a wonderful pre-gala dinner at her home with other work friends (some of whom also mentor, some who were just there to support the night). She put on a fabulous spread, and introduced me to my new favorite cheese. And, no, I can't remember the name! I know its a cows and goats milk blend from Whole Foods and it starst with a "K" -- its creamy (like a brie consistency) and almost tastes like ice cream. Anyone know what I'm talking about?? I am bringing the now-traditional cheese platter to Dan's family's Easter gathering on Sunday and its my mission to hit up Whole Foods this week and find that cheese! Once I track it down, I'll share the info. My mouth is watering again thinking about it.

Aaaanyway, cheese tangent over. I did a crummy job taking pictures all night (feeling a bit camera shy in a crowd we don't socialize with often). But here's an overhead shot of the crowd out on the dance-floor:

And here's one of me and Dan (set to B&W because the color came out wonky):

Now I'm off to tackle a rainy Monday. I am feeling a bit desperate and depressed as I enter month four of unemployment, but am trying to keep busy and just move forward, one day after another, without despair. Its very difficult and some days I do despair; this is, honestly, an extremely painful time in my life but this too shall pass (right? maybe soon? please?) and I am eager to learn and grow from it all and am trusting God that this trial will shape my future for the better. Somehow! By the grace of God. Amen.