by Hallie G., Spark Mentor

[note: "buddies" refer to clients in the Spark Psycho-Social skills program, which you could read more about here]

I started Spark in the fall of 2018 as a 10th grader. Before beginning Spark, I was invited to come to a group session the past spring to get a sense of what Spark was like. When observing the group session, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew that mentors were paired with buddies and they did activities together, but I didn’t realize that they would have such a special relationship. One activity that stuck out to me was when mentors and buddies were simulating a working store. Buddies were practicing taking and counting money and interacting with “customers,” who were mentors. I remember seeing everyone laughing together, and it showed me what Spark is really like. Spark is a place where not only buddies, but mentors too, can come to have fun and try new activities. I’ve experienced this myself over the past year, doing activities I would never do myself: painting with marbles, playing matching games, doing taste tests with chocolate, and doing relay races, to name a few. As well as having fun at Spark, I’ve developed a great relationship with my buddy. He went from never knowing my name to greeting me every Wednesday with the same two questions: “What’s your favorite color?” and “What’s your favorite number?” I’ve had a very memorable first year at Spark and I can’t wait to continue in the future!