Daisy, a student at Phoenix Military Academy in Chicago, found both a cheerleader and a guide to the college process in her mentor, Sam Lovett. Daisy is now a first-year student at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In this post, Daisy shares what it's like to know her mentor is always there for her.
When there was a deadline of October 31, my mentor, Sam, messaged me the night of and the night before.
She said, “If you need anything, I'm always a text away, a call away. I'm not busy right now. You can message me. I'll get in touch with you later to see how things are going.” And I just thought, 'Wow, she's giving me a bunch of her time.” That was really cool.
Sam always made sure that I updated my iMentor college list, and she recommended colleges to me. For example, I wasn't really considering Loyola as much, but the more Sam talked about it, since she attended Loyola, the more I became interested in the school. We met up almost every other week at different coffee shops to share a hot drink while we talked about colleges. I thought it would bother my mom that I was going out a lot during that time, but on the contrary, she was very proud of me and grateful that I had someone like Sam, who invested more than she needed to in me. "
Sam made this whole Google Doc of notes, and she put down every single school I was interested in, what their requirements were for applying, if I needed a personal statement, if I need extra essays, or if they had my major. And she told me straight up, “Well, I know that you're interested in this school, but it doesn't have your major. So, let's see if we can maybe move that school to the last one you apply to.”
Having a mentor really de-stresses the application process. A mentor becomes someone that you don't just rely on, but is also your friend.
