Recently I was with my friend Jill.
She told me she was going to be volunteering to help kids in a
low-income middle school with the complicated application process for applying
to NYC high schools. I’ve been wanting
to volunteer for a while, and I did not think I’d be good helping the old or sick,
but under-privileged is something I could do.
I call LEAAP (Legal Economic and Educational Advancement Program) as
Jill suggests, and ask if there are any volunteer programs to help kids
navigate the college process. I speak to
Brandon who is the coordinator and he tells me there is. I sign up.
Tonight is the first night of training.
The training takes place in a building at Fordham Law, the
administrator of the program. There are
about 14 people who have volunteered, most of whom are lawyers. Everyone seems smart, accomplished, and
anxious to help. It’s an inspiring room.
By the time I leave, I’ve bonded with four other women. I want to be friends with them all. Our next session is actually with the kids. I am familiar with the college application
process, but not familiar with the rough neighborhood these kids call home.
I think of Alexander. Without
being privileged he’s led a privileged life.
He’s gone to one of the best high schools in the country, and now he’s a
student at one of the country’s best universities. He’s not unlike his friends. While we may have a small apartment, and he
doesn’t live in a two-parent household, he is well-fed, well-clothed,
well-educated, and well-loved. He is
rich in all the important ways.
The kids we will be mentoring haven’t been as lucky. I hope I have the skills to understand them,
to guide them, and to lead them to good choices.
As one of the women says about herself as we are leaving, “I wonder if
these kids will be able to relate to an old white woman?” She is actually not so old, quite vibrant,
and was an adjunct law professor at Fordham.
But I think she does a good job of expressing all our concerns.
We’ll soon know the answer. We
start next week.
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