Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Dreams Become Reality for Former Mentee and Mentor!

Below is a GREAT story of the power of the Cabrini Connections' program and how not only the students benefit from being involved in the program, but how the volunteers that work with the students benefit from seeing all of their hard work, dedication, and commitment pay off. This is not only another great entry in the Cabrini Connections' story, but another example of why programs like Cabrini Connections need to be put in place in neighborhoods all over the country.

Just wanted to share with all of you that a couple of weeks before Christmas I had the distinct honor of watching Diara Fleming graduate from Northern Illinois University. It was one of the most amazing things I have witnessed. In just over 4 years, Diara has worked her way through NIU to graduate with a GPA of over 3.0. She plans to go on to graduate school as soon as possible.

For those of you who don't know Diara, she was a bright student at both Cabrini Green Tutoring and the Cabrini Connections. She graduated from Walter Peyten High School and went straight to NIU. Although the road was not easy for her- Diara has done tremendously through her career at NIU and I am confident she will accomplish amazing things. Diara will tell you that she could not have graduated without the support of many others outside of her family which simply did not provide the support she needed.

I tell you this not to be boastful in any way of my involvement- but to stress how critical it is for programs like Cabrini to continuing pairing up tutors/mentors so they have the support network they need to be successful.

Wishing everyone at Cabrini a very Merry Christmas!
Happy New Year!

Courtland

1 comment:

Tutor Mentor Connections said...

Daria was a 2006 HS graduate who participated with CC since 7th grade. She and Courtland began to work together in the 2003-04 school year and have stayed connected even beyond high school graduation. That's the goal when we say "Once in Cabrini Connections, Always in Cabrini Connections." Read more about the number of students who have participated in the past decade at http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2010/12/looking-back-at-last-10-years-cabrini.html