VOA慢速英语2015 女大学生返校引导高中学生

 

College Women Return to Guide High School Students 女大学生返校引导高中学生

Halima Adenegan graduated from Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland. In 2012 — four years after she graduated — she started a program to help guide, or mentor¹, the young women in this high school.

The name of the mentoring² program is Imara Roose. Imara is Swahili for strong, and Roose is from part of the school’s name. The mentors³ are female college students. They volunteer as big sisters and role models.

Each week, the members of Imara Roose gather in a large group to discuss topics that interest them. They talk about physical fitness⁴ and being healthy, as well as social media and their self-image.

Sometimes, they talk in smaller groups. In these small groups, a mentor answers their questions. On other occasions, students meet with just their mentor. Ms. Adenegan said these discussions are good for people who are shy or who have private questions.

Teenage challenges

Ms. Adenegan said the high school women can feel comfortable in the group. They are free to discuss common issues, personal problems and the difficulty of being a teenager.

“I think they just need someone to say I’ve been here, I’ve done that, just follow what I’m doing because I don’t want you to do the same mistakes that I did.”?

Justice Davis, who graduated in May, participated in the program. She said it helped increase her self-confidence.

"One of the things I really learned was self confidence. So, like, when I'm in school and I have a doubt, I know that I shouldn't have it. I've learned that everyone's different and I am my own self. I’ve learned what I like, and what I want to do. So that’s really helped me a lot.”

Averi Millet⁵ also participated in the program. She said the discussion on peer⁶ pressure was very useful.

“I heard a lot of different comments on how you can positively⁷ peer-pressure someone and negatively peer-pressure someone, and I thought it was amazing. It helped me actually get through a lot of situations after that.”

Halima Adenegan said the Imara Roose groups also help high school seniors with their college and future plans. They work on applying to college and developing their careers.

A matter of trust

University of Maryland junior Tinsae Gebriel volunteered as a mentor this year because she wanted to return something to her community and help other young women.?

“When I come here, I actually enjoy it. I know that every day they go back home, learning a little something and I’m learning a lot from them, too. So it’s like, I’m not wasting or sacrificing my time because I’m actually enjoying it. If you show interest, sooner or later the girls will start to open up to you.”?

When young women trust their mentors, she said, they are able to talk about difficult issues.

“Like relationships and also like sex education. There are a lot of questions and misinformation out there. A lot of the information they thought were facts were actually not true. They were relying on some of their friends to answer their questions, and their friends didn’t know the answers either.”

Eleanor Roosevelt principal Reginald McNeil strongly supports Imara Roose. He believes the program has a good influence on his students.

“I think it just broadens⁸ their horizon. Most of the students come in and they’re just so narrowly focused because they haven’t been exposed to a lot of different ideas. Being in this program gives them an opportunity to hear from role models. All these young ladies who come back as mentors are in college. They found a way to be successful and they are leading them to the same path.”

Imara Roose founder⁹ Halima Adenegan will graduate soon from Washington and Lee University School of Law in Virginia. She said she wants more college students to start groups like Imara Roose.?

Word in This Story

mentor - v.  to teach or give advice or guidance to someone, such as a less experienced person or a child

volunteer - v. to offer to do something without getting paid to do it

self-image - n. the way you think about yourself and your abilities or appearance

teenager - n. someone who is between 13 and 19 years old

career  - n. a job or profession that someone does for a long time

give back - idiom.  to contribute to society, or return something of value to one’s community

founder - n. a person who creates or establishes something that is meant to last for a long time, such as a business or school

1 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

2 mentoring   

n.mentoring是一种工作关系。mentor通常是处在比mentee更高工作职位上的有影响力的人。他/她有比‘mentee’更丰富的工作经验和知识，并用心支持mentee的职业（发展）。v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• One of the most effective instruments for coaching and mentoring is the "role rehearsal" . 辅导和教学的最有效的手段之一是“角色排练。” 来自辞典例句
• Bell Canada called their mentoring system a buddy-buddy system. 加拿大贝尔公司称他们的训导系统是伙伴—伙伴系统。 来自互联网

3 mentors   

n.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的名词复数 )v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Beacham and McNamara, my two mentors, had both warned me. 我的两位忠实朋友，比彻姆和麦克纳马拉都曾经警告过我。 来自辞典例句
• These are the kinds of contacts that could evolve into mentors. 这些人是可能会成为你导师。 来自互联网

4 fitness   

n.适合，适当，健康，健身

参考例句：

• They're doing exercises to improve their fitness.他们为增强体质而做体操。
• No one questions her fitness for the job.没人怀疑她能胜任这项工作。

5 millet   

n.小米，谷子

参考例句：

• Millet is cultivated in the middle or lower reaches of the Yellow River.在黄河中下游地区，人们种植谷子。
• The high quality millet flour was obtained through wet milling.采用湿磨法获得了高品质的小米粉。

6 peer   

n.同辈，同等地位的人，伙伴，贵族；vi.仔细看，费力地看

参考例句：

• Children are easily influenced by their peer.孩子很容易受同辈影响。
• He is a peer.他是一个贵族。

7 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

8 broadens   

使…变宽，扩展( broaden的第三人称单数 )； 增长（经验、知识等）

参考例句：

• Travel broadens the mind. 旅行可以使人胸襟开阔。
• The river broadens here. 河流在这里变宽了。

9 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。