Out of 2,000 volunteers who work with the College Now Mentoring Program, Gail Arnoff, SAGES teaching fellow, was recently named one of two Mentors of the Year.
Her mentee and nominator, Sandy Huynh, wrote: “She [Arnoff] was exactly the supportive mentor-figure I needed in my first year of college, as I was struggling with my transition to college.”
College Now works to increase postsecondary educational attainment through college and career access advising, financial aid counseling, and scholarship and retention services. Arnoff has been a College Now mentor for 12 years, and also has been a mentor through many different organizations, including for international students both at John Carroll University and Case Western Reserve, new runners for Team in Training at the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society, “I Have a Dream,” and she is even still in touch with her little sister from the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Program.
Arnoff shared that her husband once said: “Gail never met a mentoring program that she didn’t like.”
Huynh said Arnoff helped her forge her college and professional career path. Upon undergraduate graduation, Huynh will attend optometry school and thanks Arnoff for her support.
“She is the absolute best mentor I could have asked for,” Huynh wrote in her nomination letter. “She helps me to see the best in myself and I love her for it.”
Arnoff plans to continue making a positive impact through mentoring students as long as she can.
“The rewards of mentoring are not tangible,” Arnoff shared. “What I and many others obtain from mentoring is a connection to people we wouldn’t meet in any other way. For me, mentoring is an important part of my life.”