Meet Samara and Kristin! They have been matched in the community mentoring program for 6 years and they celebrate their match anniversary this month on June 24th. Samara just finished her junior year at East High School. Coronavirus gave way to a much different than expected ending to her junior year, but that hasn’t affected her excitement and anticipation for her senior year and beyond. Samara looks forward to attending an HBCU and exploring a career in activism, clinical or forensic psychology.
Samara said she still remembers her first outing with Kristin; it was the day before Samara’s birthday. Six years later, they still meet at least once or twice a month to go out to eat, get coffee, work on homework and dig into a list of things they want to tackle for the year.
When asked what makes Kristin a good mentor, Samara said, “Oh goodness, so many things. She is very supportive, she’s assertive, and she gives great advice. She’s positive, gets me to think on the bright side. She is like my best friend!”
Kristin and Samara have been connecting mostly through phone calls and texts during the safer at home order and checking in on how each other is doing. Their match will graduate from the program after Samara’s senior year but according to Samara, “she’s gonna be here forever!”