Carmela and Ceez
Mentor
Carmela is from a small town in Rhode Island, graduated from college with a degree in accounting,and now works as an accountant for MTV Networks. She lives in Gramercy Park in Manhattan. iMentor is Carmela’s first volunteer experience as a professional in New York City. She chose iMentor because of the flexibility it offered mentors, in terms of emailing on their own time every week, while simultaneously providing the opportunity to develop a positive relationship with a New York teen. Because of her life experiences, such as growing up as the child of immigrant parents from Italy and surviving cancer in college, Carmela felt she could relate to a teenager’s similarly challenging life struggles. Carmela has really enjoyed iMentor so far because it gives her a chance to experience parts of New York City that she doesn’t regularly come into contact with, and because, as she says, “I was so lucky to get such an amazing mentee!”
Carmela Says:
"I can tell that you are on the right path. I promise, if you get to classes on time, you will see a MAJOR improvement in your grades!"
Mentee
Cynthia “Ceez” K. grew up in the South Bronx, and is currently a junior at Careers in Sports HighSchool, located in the South Bronx. In addition to being a high school student, Ceez is a spoken word artistand rapper who regularly performs with the New York youth spoken word organization Urban Word, and is beginning to perform with El Grito de las Poetas, another NYC spoken word group. Ceez aspires to attend the University of Wisconsin and participate in their First Wave program, which is a spoken word and poetry group at the school. She also wants to get her Masters in Education, become a teacher, and found her own non-profit organization called Wordplay, which she says will be a “poetry, spoken word and music center” for youth. Currently, she works six days a week in order to support herself financially and help her mother,who is ill and is unable to work herself.
Ceez has never struggled with the academic aspect of high school, but throughout her freshman and sophomore years, her attendance was dismal and was the cause of her low grades. In Ceez’s words: “Exams were easy. Projects were even easier … [but] I was really lazy. If I woke up and saw that I had an hour to get to school on time, I would go back to sleep until whenever and get to school whenever.” Recently, however, Ceez has renewed her efforts to attend school regularly, and her grades are rapidly improving.
Ceez Says:
“I think I’m in a good place now and it’s getting better. Especially because a lot of people refuse to give up on me.”
About Their Match
Ceez was not initially interested in the iMentor program. It was only when her Program Coordinator(PC), Jessica, recognized her creativity and passion for spoken word and promised to find her a mentor in the music business that Ceez completed her application and turned in her parental consent forms. In her first email, Ceez wrote, “I’ll be honest with you, this iMentor thing is not something I was too hyped about doing. Spilling to people you know is hard enough. They have to gain my trust first. But recent events have made me more open to this. ‘Cause on my best days, you’ll be really impressed and on my bad days, I can tell you what I can’t tell people closest to me (I’m hoping). I want us to be able to talk about anything. I will only be as open with you as you are with me.” Carmela responded, “I've been very excited about this opportunity and am really looking forward to starting our friendship! And thank you for being honest about your concerns regarding opening up to me. I really want this to be a positive experience for both of us. I know what you mean when you feel like you've experienced a lot in a short time, so please, feel free to think that you can open up as much as you'd like and I promise to do the same!” Ceez and Carmela have since discovered multiple similar interests. In a discussion about music, Ceez concluded, “Allof the songs and artists you mentioned in the first email are favorites of mine too, I’m really happy I got matched with you!”
Impact of Their Match
Before Ceez was matched with Carmela, she rarely came to iMentor sessions, and her teacherdismissed her as “never there.” Since being matched with Carmela, however, Ceez has attended every iMentor session, and her teachers say her attendance is improving the other days of the week, as well. Ceez reflected in an email to Carmela: “I think it just got to a point when I was like my actions will really affect me a lot in the long run and I just got on point. I think I’m in a good place now and it’s getting better. Especially because a lot of people refuse to give up on me.” Carmela is relentlessly enthusiastic and encourages Ceez’s efforts, saying, “I think it's great that you are changing your ways. I know it can be easyto get lazy in school, but you really just have to work through that and in talking to you, I can tell that youare on the right path. I promise, if you get to classes on time, you will see a MAJOR improvement in your grades!!”
Carmela has also been instrumental in helping to keep Ceez focused on the college application process, which, with her work and spoken word commitments, Ceez sometimes doesn’t prioritize. Carmela has offered her own college resume for Ceez’s benefit and constantly offers to help in any way she can.Over the next year and a half, Carmela is committed to making sure Ceez is admitted to the University ofWisconsin, her first choice for college.
Since beginning to email, Carmela and Ceez have met in person twice, cementing their positive relationship. They first met at Ceez’s school’s iMentor kick off event, where they shared pizza and talked non-stop for two hours. Next, Ceez emailed Carmela about her upcoming performance dates, after Carmela expressed interest in seeing Ceez in action. “I could tell, her face just lit up when she talked about performing,” Carmela said. “I wanted to see her doing what she loves best!” Carmela and her PC, Jessica, attended one of Ceez’s Saturday spoken word events, sponsored by Urban Word, where Ceez was afeatured performer. Ceez expressed her gratitude to Carmela in an email, writing, “THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING OUT THAT NIGHT. IT REALLY MEANT A LOT!!”
Ceez is introducing Carmela to a new world as Carmela helps her to prepare for college. Carmela had never heard of Urban Word before seeing Ceez’s performance, and was blown away by the teenagers’talented, expressive performances. She’s now excited to attend more spoken word events in the future. In all of these ways, Ceez and Carmela have expanded each other’s horizons and have begun what is andwill continue to be a very successful mentoring experience. Ceez, as usual, says it best: “I appreciate you taking your time and doing this. I know what you’re thinking, too… ‘for someone who didn’t want to do this,she sure sounds happy to talk to me.’ You have yourself to thank for that so just pat yourself on the back, lol.”
