My TLG Story: Randy Teh
This story was written by Teach Learn Grow volunteer Randy Teh.
Horizon Power and Sandfire Resources are the proud sponsors of Teach Learn Grow’s Rural Program at Mount Magnet District High School.
This is my first time doing eMentor and the Rural Program. I originally decided to get involved when I heard about TLG because I thought the cause behind TLG was one worth supporting, especially having myself, the privilege of an accessible education. I then decided to go on Rural Program after eMentor and seeing how large the education gap really is, firsthand through teaching my kid. It really opened my eyes and inspired me to keep helping in any way I could!
I never thought much about going to Mount Magnet for Rural Program because I was honestly a little scared of meeting my mentee - what if he was different in real life to what he was on camera? At the same time, I thought the idea of meeting someone you journeyed with for 10 weeks in real life and further strengthening that relationship would be a great experience! In the end, I was undecided on how I felt.
What if I didn't live up to what my mentee thought of me too? After all, it was a week of constant contact - it was really different to an hour a week of a webcam experience. I thought about it more and I got way more excited and less scared to meet mentee as I thought journeying through with my mentee in real life would strengthen our eMentor experience so I got super excited!
Meeting my mentee in real life was no different to meeting him for the first time on eMentor. There was a weird mix of excitement and fear, but I ended up walking out of the kitchen area to look for him earlier. I found him after his friends told me he was hiding behind a bin away from me, to be cheeky and playful. I relaxed so much more after finding out he is absolutely no different.
Being in constant contact can let you really change a child's life, especially if they already enjoy being with you and maybe look up to you through programs like eMentor. It just really strengthened our bond as I could be more flexible with my time and I could plan my Rural Program activities better around him and how he felt that day. Just being with him in real life is a easier experience (as is with most humans!).
I think we definitely built at least a stronger bond and if not, hopefully I set a good example for him in how to act and how to interact with people. Tutoring-wise we went much further than he did usually in class because he's a smart cookie but I definitely learnt a lot from my mentee: to always bring a ridiculous amount of enthusiasm to everything you do, even though it might not be the best situation, after observing his own excitement for things he might not have necessarily wanted to do.
While my heart says yes and I would 100% want to eMentor/visit my mentee again, because it really makes the journey more complete and will have a better and larger impact on my mentee’s life, I also want to work with other eMentor kids and different schools so i'll be thinking about it!