Senior mentor Ayda Sadgehian grades papers. Photo by Kavya Pathak

As juniors plan their schedules for their last year of high school and move one step closer to their future, they face many decisions. While choosing classes, some juniors will decide to apply for a program that directly impacts next year’s freshman class: senior mentoring.

The first step in the process is the application, which each potential mentor must complete.

“The application asks questions regarding why (students) wish to be mentors, what qualities they possess to be good senior mentors, and what activities they participate in inside or outside of school,” Ms. Suzie Main, senior mentor adviser, said.

Students are also asked to provide two teacher references, which give a different perspective about the student and help provide more information about their character.

“The teachers are asked to provide an insight to whether or not the student would be a good fit within the program,” Main said.

After all of the applications are in, the selection process, a responsibility undertaken by all of the geography teachers, begins. As they go through applications, these teachers look for various qualities that determine how ready these students are to be a part of the program.

“We look for academic performance, ability to communicate with teachers, and willingness to teach (the freshmen) the lessons we provide,” Main said.

Furthermore, personal interactions with the potential mentors play a part in the process.

“All freshmen teachers have interacted with the juniors for at least one or more years, so our experiences also play a role in the selection process,” Main said.

For the students applying to the program, various factors help them decide to become mentors. Since this year’s set of juniors is the first to have had mentors as freshmen, their experiences in the program influence their decision to apply.

“My first friend at Whitney High School was my senior mentor, Sara Roudebush,” Henry Foote said. “I’ve always wanted to be a senior mentor so I can help freshmen in the same way my mentor helped me.”

Other benefits the program offers also push juniors to apply.

“I became a senior mentor mostly because it would look good on college applications,” mentor Ayda Sadhegian said, “and it really helped me when I applied to colleges.”

Becoming a senior mentor can also help students achieve a prestigious honor, the title of distinguished scholar.

“I chose to apply to become a senior mentor so that I would have the requirements to become a distinguished scholar,” Roxana Azar said. “I have all of the other requirements to apply, and becoming a mentor will ensure that I can become one.”

From the program’s creation in 2009, its numbers have steadily grown, though there is always room for more mentors.

“I’m hoping we will have 100 applicants, which would be almost double what we had in the first year of the program. Right now, we have about 80 students who are interested in the program,” Main said.

Final decisions will be made in the next few weeks, and students will be notified in the beginning of March.

However, acceptance into the program is just the beginning for mentors, as participation in the program will majorly impact their schedules. After working with freshmen during first semester, mentors get second semester off, giving them a study hall period or allowing them to leave school early.

“I’m definitely looking forward to having a period off during second semester,” Azar said. “It’s going to give me a lot more time to keep up with all of my classes.”

By KAVYA PATHAK