Mash-Up King

For the past six years I've had a "little brother" through Big Brothers/Big Sisters named Jordan. Every time we meet with him I thank the organization who matched us, because he's the most courteous, happy-go-lucky kid we could have asked for. Our relationship has been great, though you never really know what kind of difference you make. He's 13 now and we've been with him since he was 7.

Tonight, I decided we might have some fun making a mash-up on the computer. I went through my digital music library and we selected "Knights of Cydonia," by Muse and Bender from Futurama as our subjects. This was nothing serious, nothing of quality necessarily, but a chance to have some fun and chuckle at one Matt Groening's great unsung creations.

Then something interesting happened, something I didn't expect. Jordan is a great kid but not the most "impressive." His knowledge base is like a lot of kids his age and I understand he struggles with grades. But after we picked the Bender quotes ("you know what always makes me feel better? Laughing at the misfortune of others") and started working with the audio editing software, the kid picked it up and started making decisions both in editing and the overall content of the piece. He edited, he was concerned with flow and meaning and in the hour and a half it took to put together the piece, he was effectively producing and directing. He bloomed, which is something I rarely get to see.

It made me think maybe that's where mentoring makes the most of a difference - you're not giving a kid anything special from your brain, you're just exposing that kid to parts of life he or she might not know exist or might not ever have the chance to experience. I know I've made Jordan happy by taking him to movies or out for ice cream, for example, but tonight I think I opened something up for him he didn't know was out there and something that he's honestly good at.

It reminds me of my freshman year in college where, first semester, I pulled a GPA that could have been duplicated if I had sent a monkey to my classes. I was studying a lot of science which was dry and where everyone was better than I was. To quote Gary Oldman, EEEVERYYYONE!!! Then I discovered journalism and didn't pull a "B" for the rest of my college life. Once you find something your mind can glean onto and you decide to put in the work, or better yet if it doesn't seem like work, you bloom.

And Jordan bloomed. It was a good night.