Bhangal 1

Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. -MLK

Naseeb Bhangal
Phil-Human Nature
Professor Bowman
December 5, 2011
Service Learning Reflection: G.A.M.E. ON
Among the many kinds of youth programs that exist today, one approach mentoring
has achieved extensive recognition. The high profile of mentoring can be attributed to its
remarkable success. Thus, in order to serve more youth, CASL has developed several innovative
approaches to mentoring. Group mentoring, or G.A.M.E. (Gonzaga Athletes Mentoring for
Excellence), is one approach that has gained considerable popularity at Gonzaga. The idea
behind G.A.M.E. is based on the idea that volunteers who interact regularly with the kids at Gary
Middle school can fulfill the role of a mentor to be a trusted counselor or guide by developing
a number of successful and productive relationships simultaneously. In this way, G.A.M.E.
provides us mentors with large numbers of youth without depleting scarce volunteer resources.
G.A.M.E is an excellent service learning experience for both mentors and mentees who
prefer group-based relationships. Most of the mentees I worked with want opportunities to
interact with their peers opportunities that are critical to their development; and some are
uncomfortable working with a mentor alone. G.A.M.E. gives the mentees at Gary Middle School
a comfortable setting in which they can interact with their peers through games, while at the
same time receiving guidance and support from an adult.
While I questioned the quality of these group relationships I was building, I soon found
that group mentors who had strong relationships with their mentees exhibited behavior that was
consistent with that of mentors in strong one-on-one relationships. A perfect model of this was a

Bhangal 2
Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. -MLK
second year mentor, Maggie. Maggie showed me how important it is to regularly meet with the
mentees; she would even go to their volleyball and basketball games, not just Tuesday nights.
Additionally, she is very sensitive to the mentees preferences for activities and discussion topics.
Most importantly, I was touched by how Maggie had fund with the youth and got to know them
personally by name, rather than focusing exclusively on the games.
When I started G.A.M.E., I was skeptical because my past mentor-youth relationships
were based predominantly on the one-on-one mentoring. At the beginning I felt that because of
the group environment as a mentor, I would be unable to provide individual attention to the
mentees. Also sometimes there are instances of differential treatment, exclusion of some mentees
from the majority of the group, and consequently negative interactions among the mentees occur
in the group. This is where I learned from Maggie that the mentors role is vital.
One experience I would like to elaborate on is my interaction with one mentee in
particular. For security reasons we will call this mentee Ben. I was really able to connect with
Ben from the very beginning because his family history paralleled my very own. Bens parents
immigrated to the States from the Marshall Islands before he was born, much like my parents.
When I would talk to Ben about what he hoped to do in high school because he was an eighth
grader, he told me he wanted to finish off high school and join his father and become a
mechanic. From the first day of G.A.M.E. Ben was one of the few kids who would listen to Jess
and Abby with his full attention. Not only that but he would go even tell his group of friends to
pay attention to the mentors. He knew when to have fun and all the mentors could not help but
notice how this thirteen year old could blend perfectly in any kind of group situation. Seeing all
these attributes that would go wasted if Ben didnt try to push himself harder and think about
college became a focus point for some mentors. Some mentors and I during breaks and activities

Bhangal 3
Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. -MLK
would encourage him to pursue mechanical engineering and to go into high school with the idea
that there is a journey ahead of him. While I understand some individuals believe that college
isnt meant for everyone, I cant help but wonder if kids like Ben arent encouraged to seek out
their potential how many good doctors, engineers, and politicians we will miss out on.
The benefit of a program like G.A.M.E. for me was to see the improvements in social
skills amongst the mentees. It was rewarding to see that over the course of the semester some
youth became less shy and inhibited, improved their conversation skills, and became more
considerate. Furthermore, conversation became more rewarding further along the semester
because conversations became more personal. As I got to know and learn about the mentees and
their stories, I realized that they were opening up to me because I told them that were capable of
making their volleyball team or getting into college if they made that a long term goal. I could
see that they trusted I would keep showing up every Tuesday, that I would continue listening,
and that allowed them to finally open up to me. When my mentees trusted me it helped me
realize that I am important and have something to offer. Most importantly, it is so vital to be out
in the real world because theories about service are just that, theories. Applying them to real life
is essential to have a deep understanding of a concept.