On every Saturday, mentors (university students) and mentees (high school students) have a gathering at a study room called “Wings to My Dream (Giving Wings to My Dream)” in Donggyo-dong, Seoul. HUMAN IN LOVE PR team had a sudden visit and saw Mentor Dong-jin Shin passionately asking questions to his mentees and Mentor Seong-don Kim giving tips about exams to his mentees even until the elevator door wasjust about to close. The two mentors talked about “Wings to My Dream”.
[Wings to My Dream Mentor Dong-jin Shin (left) and Seong-don Kim (right)]
Q. Introduce yourself, please.
◎Mentor Dong-jin Shin : My name is Dong-jin Shin, and I’m majoring in architecture and physics at Seoul National University. I’ve been serving as a Wings to My Dream mentor from the last year. When I subscribed to HUMAN IN LOVE, I came to know about “Wings to My Dream” and decided to be a mentor. Now, it’s already been a year.
◎Mentor Seong-don Kim : I’m Seong-don Kim and majoring in computer engineering at Hongik University. I had engaged in “HIL Youth Software Volunteer Group” when I was a freshman and sophomore in high school. Now I’m an assist teacher of HIL Software Volunteer Group and mentor of Wings to My Dream.
Q. Tell us about what Wings to My Dream mentors are doing.
◎Mentor Seong-don Kim : My mentee is a high school senior and I’m teaching him math. He’s stressed out because of school exams and the university entrance exam. I’m helping him out when he has a hard time figuring out what to do and how to stay focused. Today, he seemed to believe that he must solve as many tricky questions as possible, soI told him tricky questions and easy questions don’t have a significant difference in terms of score when they’re summed up and that it’s important to fully understand basic concepts so that he’ll not lose points on easy questions.
◎Mentor Dong-jin Shin : I teach math to my three mentees. They are smart kids but I guess they lack confidence. When they are stuck with difficult problems, they tend to think “Oh, my answer is wrong. I don’t think I can do this. I’m done.” They don’t try anymore and feel even less confident. I think my role is to boost their confidence.
[Mentor Dong-jin Shin is giving advice]
Q. What was the most memorable moment during your mentoring experience?
◎Mentor Dong-jin Shin : When my mentees were encountered with questions that they hadn’t seen before, they were freaked out and just gave up. When I kept asking questions and giving hints to them, they tried to do everything they could and got right answers. When they said “Now there’s nothing I can’t answer,” I was really happy and fulfilled.
◎Mentor Seong-don Kim : Same here. I felt good when my mentee got more confident about himself. One day, I was teaching probability and statistics like I did today, and he was solving a little tricky question and asked for help. Without giving answers right away, I taught him basic concepts and helped him solve easier questions. And then I let him solve the tricky one by himself and he was doing well and could finally get the right answer. When he knew the answer was right, he got excited and high-fived. I feel like I gain confidence feel happy when I see my mentee feel more confident about himself believing that he can do anything on his own and can do other things too.
[Mentor Seong-don Kim is giving advice]
Q. When were you frustrated?
◎Mentor Seong-don Kim : One day I had to teach a couple of students all together and I wasn’t ready enough because I just started mentoring at that time. Also, I wasn’t much close to my mentees so it was quite challenging to teach them and answer 30 questions. I had to check the answer during the break and taught them.
◎Mentor Dong-jin Shin : My mentee became high school senior and he was demoralized and frustrated after mock tests. I felt sorry for him because he didn’t understand it’s only natural getting good score becomes harder in senior year. Other than that, everything was ok and he always did his homework.
Q. You know what it is like to be a teenager. Do you have anything to tell your teenage mentees?
◎Mentor Seong-don Kim : I didn’t mind playing and hanging out with my friends. I could release my stress and better focus on studying after spending free time. I took enough rest and had good relationship with my friends. I played hard when I played, and studied hard when I studied. I think this is a good tip because most of the kids feel guilty when they don’t study.
I believe hard work and effort never betrays, it only pays. This is my motto. Math or science might not help in daily life but those who are good at math aren’t confused when they learn something new. At least it’s good for brain development. I hope my mentees don’t give up and keep making efforts whether it be study or anything else.
[Mentor Dong-jin Shin]
◎Mentor Dong-jin Shin : I tried to believe studying is fun and it actually was fun. For example, when I learned digestion, I imagined “I ate this and at this point this kind of digestive fluid would be flowing in my stomach”. I enjoyed studying because I could relate myself to what I learned. But my friends seemed stressed out when they had to learn something new. I know it’s stressful but I hope my mentees could enjoy learning.
These days, teenagers don’t think much about what they really want and they just decide their career based on grade. Many of them give up on their dreams simply because their grade is low. If they don’t have a dream they really need to take time to think what they want, and if they have a dream, they should think what they can to achieve that goal.
What is ‘Giving Wings to My Dream’
“Wings to My Dream (Giving Wings to My Dream)” is a project to support high school students from low-income families. HUMAN IN LOVE provides scholarship, learning and career mentoring and counselling so that they can achieve their dreams.
