Wow, we are nearing the end of my final year of high school and I can only say that this year I went through a lot of ups and downs. My senior year was very humbling in the process of transitioning into an adult. I can say that after everything that happened with the pandemic in the past 2 years I am very grateful for all the memories I made this year. I have grown so much this year in the sense of moving into that adult life. I was seen in middle school as a role model, teacher, somebody that the kids can look at and feel comfortable talking to. I've learned to be there and tell some students what is right or wrong and what makes me glad is that I was one of them students that looked up to the mentors at SMSA. My project I would say didn't go as planned, my mentees dealt with a lot of issues outside of school that I felt like was out of my control. At the same time I didn't hold my end of the bargain when it came to seeing them everyday and taking them out of class to finish an assignment I said we would finish later. Mid-way through the school year my grades were going down and I was more focused on getting them back up. My mentees would see me doing work and sometimes they'll feel inspired to do their work as well, it was setting an example for my mentees that even I struggle with school too. There were times when my mentees would go weeks without an incident and would get prizes and a phone call to the parents on how good they were that week and I was very proud of my boys but I can't say that I didn't try. If I look back and think about stuff I'll change during this journey it would be to see my mentees a lot more during my breaks and keep my grades to have some freedom in what I do. What I learned from this service project is that mentoring is not as easy as it sounded in the beginning of the year and how the kids could sometimes be a little difficult but in all honesty it isn't something I haven't already gone through as I have two brothers here at SMSA. The most challenging part of the project was getting to adapt to being an adult. I remember having an AHA moment in October on the school bus on the way home and realized that I'm in conversations with adults who have seen me grow from my first year here to my last. This was a real reality check for me because the 2 years out of school from the pandemic to coming back in-person to talking with adults about adult things was sort of different. I felt like I served my community well. I was a big help around the middle school for the teachers and I felt like my presence alone inspired them to get to the point I'm at right now. Through the project and e-portfolio I can say that I have really put my effort in the sense of putting most of the experiences in from when we called parents or when we played basketball and if I was to look back I can say that I am very proud of my grit and determination though this senior year.