Ubuntu Mentoring for College “My humanity is caught up, is inexorably bound up, in yours.” “We are made for a delicate network of interdependence.” —writes Desmond Tutu in defining “ubuntu” The name of the program reflects its emphasis on the community formed by college, high school and middle school participants in the peer mentoring program and the larger communities of students at Columbus’ Linden-McKinley HS, Buckeye MS, Linmoor MS, and Medina MS they served and hoped to inspire through their Ubuntu Diary. youthLEAD LEARN: More than 100 Linden-McKinley High School and Buckeye, Linmoor, and Medina Middle School students learn and apply thinking and personal change models mentoring skills college access requirements and skills goal setting self-awareness and reflection methods writing skills community. ENGAGE: College students mentor high school students weekly throughout the academic year. College students and high school students engage in group mentoring sessions with the middle school students during 10 Otterbein campus sessions and regular sessions at the middle schools. ACT: High School and Middle School students:  Apply the skills they learn writing the Ubuntu Diary  Participate in editing sessions on campus  Distribute copies and read diary entries in classes at their middle schools DECIDE: High School and Middle School students reveal painful stories, imagine their futures, reflect, determine their purposes and goals to educate and inspire others—their school communities I look at my mother’s misfortune as a form of inspiration and something to look up to because I would never want my children to have to endure what I have had to endure: having to fight in school, watching their backs walking from or to school.... I don’t want a child to have to go through what I have been through. Most of all I do not want my family to experience poverty. –LMHS Student youthLEAD’S Ubuntu Mentoring for College Otterbein College Obstacles At our third Otterbein session the students wrote about Obstacles: “I have never really thought deeply about that time and my mother’s illness [her dementia] until now. I think my experiences have made me a better person. I don’t act out any more; I see that obstacles are just weights that I gather along the way of life to help me build strength and endurance. That thought has also helped me stay on top of my game.” —LMHS student Mentoring and Relationships The LMHS students mentored the 8 th and 6 th graders at their middle schools. Together they wrote about Mentoring & Relationships “ So as time progressed, I became stronger. I figured out that just because she is killing her life with crack doesn’t mean I had to do the same to mine. I decided that I was going to be the ‘greater her,’ and the opposite of the worse her.” —LMHS student Admission At a session on campus late in the Winter Quarter, the high school and middle school students discussed and wrote about their Images and Dreams and a mentoring group designed a poster: Redefining Power Power is following my dreams Power is finding out who I am Power is being all I can be Power is taking advantage of opportunities Power is taking action Power is being successful Power is preparing for the future Power is being positive Power is working hard to achieve my goals Power is finding happiness Power is not anger Images & Dreams Goals & Purposes College Entrance Standards Paying for College Choosing a Career Service Project—The Ubuntu Diary Two editing teams from all three middle schools and LMHS put together The Ubuntu Diary— 1. Obstacles 2. Relationships 3. Mentoring 4.Images and Dreams 5.Goals and Purposes “I am going to college so I can be a successful person. I am not wealthy enough to pay for college. I am going to get there through financial aid or scholarships—earning them through hard work and high grades.” —6 th Grade Student “ This too is my community; the L-MHS students go to a school in the neighborhood where I grew up, Linden. While I didn’t go to their high school, I saw the same things in that area that they see. I remember coming home from work some days physically ill from the constant life after life that I was exposed to or a part of, which were slowly disappearing from alcohol, violence, chemical dependency, or just lack of access.” –Otterbein Student “ My main reason for wanting to be a prosecutor for the Manhattan Sex Crimes is that I just really am interested in this job. Second, I will be the first person in my whole family to finish college. My third reason is that I have friends who have been through the same things that pertain to the job I want, and it was worse for them because no one was ever punished …. It ruined their childhoods.” —8 th Grade Student At our first spring session on campus, the mentoring groups connected their experiences and their families—often their mothers—with their Purposes and Goals: “I have two powerful reasons for wanting to become a doctor: I want to help those in pain and to save lives. My mother’s illness opened my eyes to the troubles regular folks have to endure to survive. I know now how waiting for emergency care is unjustifiably time consuming, and I know now the effects waiting has on a patient. I want to make a difference.” —8 th Grade Student “I’m going to take the high road in life. Don’t take the low road in life, or you will be lost forever. I must keep my grades up, and do well in school and at home. I will earn scholarships. Don’t take the low road; it takes you nowhere in life.” —6 th Grade Student