When Mentors join Starfish Initiative, our hope is that they’ll continue to mentor their Scholars all the way through high school. Mentor John Scott, however, has taken it to an entirely different level.

John has been mentoring Starfish Scholars for over seven years. Two have graduated high school and gone off to college. But, even after graduation John hasn’t stopped providing a positive influence in their lives.

“I’ve invested over seven years mentoring them and don’t want to stop now,” John said. “I’ve learned as much from these three young men as they have – and will – from me.”

John’s first Scholar, Kakpindi Jamiru, is now a junior at Purdue University. His second, Chrisjaan Whitson, is a sophomore at IUPUI. His current Scholar, Anyah, is a junior at Cathedral High School – the same alma mater as Kakpindi and Chrisjaan.

John continually checks in with Kakpindi and Chrisjaan throughout the year, offering insights on their academic pursuits as well as their social life. He also takes the opportunity to challenge them to do better.

“Each meeting and discussion I question their commitment in reaching their goals,” said John. “How can they do things better? What changes do they think they need to make?”

John has seen roadblocks in these young men’s path -- from shyness and hesitancy to learn new things, to the time required to build trust, or a lack of confidence in decision-making. But with a little perseverance, John was able to break through and help guide these three Scholars, all of whom maintain GPAs of 3.2 or higher in college.

“Today, all three of these young men are developing into great leaders. They are willing to learn what it takes to become successful in life!” John said. “[They are] putting forth the effort that’s required to project a positive image and carry themselves as young men. They understand being role models to their brothers and sisters and other young people is extremely important and valuable.”

John has also found s few opportunities to bring his three “generations” of Scholars together to give back. The Scholars have been more than willing to volunteer on multiple occasions for the Special Olympics, Susan B. Coleman Race for the Cure, St. Vincent DePaul food pantries, and building playgrounds for local elementary schools.

As a result of these kinds of opportunities and the long-term commitment he has made to the Scholars, John has seen them excel in their development both personally and academically.

“Talking with them, you can tell they have a greater self-awareness and self-confidence within themselves. Their speech formulation and articulation of their thoughts shows greater confidence,” said John. “They are working toward much higher goals in becoming successful.”

Kakpindi wants to become a pilot, Chrisjaan is thinking about lawyering and his current Scholar, Anyah, is looking at either becoming a chef or engineer.

“I’m seeing each of these young men growing with so much confidence,” explained Scott. “It’s scary – they continue to raise their game with their maturity more than I could have ever imagined in these past years. All because someone took an interest in them.

“Each of my Scholars has different goals in life and there’s no doubt in my mind they will all become successful. This is why I, like many other of my mentoring colleagues, stay motivated and involved with my Scholars and Starfish Initiative.”