Making A Run For It

I do it every time. When I do a mentoring activity with a group of kids, we will leave where ever we are (restaurant, mall, movie theater, etc.) and I will break out into a full sprint across the parking lot to race them to my car. It happens, literally, every single time. They've come to expect it now, so I lose most of the time. I'm old. I'm slow. It's not a pretty sight watching a grown, goofy-looking man run awkwardly across a parking lot with a group of kids from Homewood.

The point isn't that I win the race, though. The point is that it's "our thing" that we do. I'm willing to make a fool out of myself in order to connect with the young people that I'm mentoring. If I would ever happen to forget to run to the car, I'm sure my mentees would do it anyway. It's just a part of what we do. I've been cursed at by people for being irresponsible. I've had all kinds of funny looks from people. I don't care. It's fun. It's what we do.

There are serious moments in mentoring, but there are also so many funny moments. My mentees keep me young, even when I feel old. One of the most important parts of effective mentoring is discerning how to connect with kids in all kinds of different ways. Kids know if you're being authentic or not, so it's important not to try too hard. But, kids appreciate it when an adult is willing to make a fool of themselves in order to bring some life into a friendship. I hope I never grow out of my willingness to make a run for it.