From the first ACES Community Meeting all the way back in 2o19 (which seems like a different lifetime ago!), I knew I wanted to be more involved in our amazing program. As such, when I discovered the ACES Mentorship Program, I didn’t hesitate for a second before joining. As a first-year student, I knew that opting into the Mentorship Program would allow me to meet [the then] second-year students who have been around the block and are ready to guide new ACES through their first year. While my mentor was super cool (and my first choice!), I wish we were able to hang out more. Considering how chaotic the transition from high school to college (especially during a pandemic) is, I knew that, when I became an ACES Mentor one day, I would make sure that my mentee felt loved, appreciated, and welcomed within our community.
It happens far too often when college students feel lost in the shuffle, as if they’re just another number in a never-ending sea of fish. This is why I believed it was so important to involve myself in the Mentorship Program, as I wanted to ensure that a new ACES member would have someone to rely on at all times. I have loved being able to chat with my mentee over the phone, through Instagram, and through SnapChat, but I wish we had been able to meet in-person throughout this last year. However, because COVID-19 has made it incredibly difficult to do anything other than attend a Zoom meeting (mixed with limited modes communication), we never got the chance to grab coffee together—an activity we had so been looking forward to. Hopefully this coming year will bring many more memories that I can create with my mentee, even when she becomes a mentor herself!