Mentor-Mentee Fun Day for National Mentor Appreciation Month
A huge part of having a successful collaboration with someone is being able to trust them completely. That's why we decided to take our Fall 2012 Lab Students and their mentors out for a day at Brooklyn Boulders! Our students were able go rock climbing with the help of our belay certified staff, our wonderful instructor Stephanie Chan, and the Brooklyn Boulders Foundation. The Brooklyn Boulders Foundation was created with the specific goal of spreading rock climbing to as many teens as possible.Our outing to Brooklyn Boulders also managed to boost everyone's confidence in themselves and helped the students understand that they can accomplish anything. Many of the students said that when they first started climbing the steep and intimidating walls, they became afraid to go further. But with their mentors, classmates, and Reel Works staff shouting up support from the ground they were able to believe that they could make it to the top. Lab instructor Philip B. Swift said it best when after completing his climb up a very difficult wall he said,
"That was terrifying, I think I might vomit. I'm so impressed I actually did that. I want to do it again!"