This story was written by Teach Learn Grow volunteer Kayley Crebbin.

Horizon Power and Sandfire Resources are the proud sponsors of Teach Learn Grow’s Rural Program at Mount Magnet District High School.

Throughout my undergrad I saw many ads for TLG, but it wasn’t until one of my postgrad classmates encouraged us to do eMentor that I decided to apply for one of TLG’s programs. In Semester 2 of 2019, I participated in the eMentor program with Mt Magnet. Despite Internet connection issues, my mentee’s occasional absences, and unexpected events such as a school incursion during a scheduled session, it was good to be able to meet kids from an area very different to the suburbs where I grew up and to listen to all of the stories that they had to share.

I was unsure about going to Mt Magnet to meet my mentee (and reserve mentee) in person- on the one hand I liked the idea of being able to maintain and strengthen the relationships that I’d made on eMentor, but on the other hand I get incredibly stressed while travelling! In fact, during my undergrad I once filled out an application for RP halfway before getting too anxious to continue. This time, though, I bit the bullet and put in my application. I didn’t get to meet my mentee right away, as she and some other students were competing in a LEGO Robotics competition (they came third in the robotics section!).

I heard that on the afternoon she arrived back in Mt Magnet, she was looking for me (I was resting at the time as I was falling unwell). I found this rather heartwarming, as prior to this point I’d honestly thought that she was indifferent to me. I suppose this just goes to show that as wonderful as it is to have the technology to mentor people via the Internet, there’s still a certain amount of distance that comes from being behind a computer screen rather than being face-to-face. My mentee and I had a good time meeting each other, though our time together was very short (two days) and hindered somewhat by the cold I got during RP.

I couldn’t say how much my mentee learned from me, but I certainly learned a lot from her. I would love to continue working with my mentee, though unfortunately I don’t think that will be possible as she’ll be going off elsewhere for high school. I would like to take this opportunity to wish her all the best for high school and beyond.

Edited by Max Tran (Marketing Manager).