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CSC NEWSOn Saturday September 3rd, after weeksof preparation and many meetings,over two dozen volunteers convenedat Taipei European School’s lowercampus to start preparing for Teens Unplugged.Seventeen ‘Peer Mentors’, young persons fromTaipei’s international community (our mostdiverse group to date) eagerly shared informationwith high school students about how to survivethe time left in school while preparing to makethe daunting leap to college or the work world.The give and take reciprocity created byremoving the ‘expert’ or ‘authority’ role inthese meetings (attendees were separated intosmaller groups for dialogues) allows a freer flowof information among the participants. The‘teacher’ and the ‘learner’ are collaborators andthese roles are spontaneously exchanged, thuscreating a vital dynamic where attendees reporta feeling that something important to them ishappening.E a c h y e a r, b o t h M e n t o r s a n d s t u d e n tparticipants have reported positive benefits fromthe event, but nothing is more heartening thanhearing their own words. What follows are someimpressions from two of the Peer Mentors.Eva TengText: Perry Malcolm image: Roma Mehta TEEN MENTORHello! My name is Eva Teng, I graduated from TES in 2010, and Ihad the opportunity to be a Mentor for Teens Unplugged for the firsttime this year. I met Roma, Manav, Perry and so many others in theprep meeting who all greeted me with a big smile on their face. Wethen chatted and got to know each other before moving onto discussingthe content and aims of Teens Unplugged. The Mentors appeared a lotmore laid back than I had expected for such an informative event. Butupon second thought this was probably a good thing – after all, no one(especially teens!) likes being lectured on life. This easygoing attribute ofthe mentoring team turned out to be a valuable one in the actual event.The students usually began by asking academically based questions, like“what should I do to improve my chances in getting into university?” or“what courses do I need to take in university to be admitted into medicalschool?” Yet the relaxed attitude of the Mentors was infectious, andsoon the students realized that we were not there to guide them throughtheir education; rather, we hoped to give them an uncensored overviewof life as teenagers and beyond so that they would be better prepared forwhat is to come.We often had to remind everyone that time was tight, yet questionsjust kept pouring in. More faces were lit up with joy and laughterthan I had expected, thanks to the clever and humorous ways of myPeer Mentors. And it was great to see the students leave each sessionmuch livelier than when they entered. I can only hope that each persongained something valuable from Teens Unplugged – whether it is tipson cooking, advice on social life in university or even just a more openattitude to what life has to offer. Judging by everyone’s delightfulresponse, I think we accomplished something meaningful that day. Welldone Mentors!Thank you to the community, parents and friendsfor supporting Teens Unplugged.Donors, sponsors and organizers:AlleycatsCommunity Services CenterCostcoCucina SoleFlâneur DaguerreGet SetNicholas GouldSir Speedy, TianmuSpace YogaTaipei European SchoolVikram Mehta, Chelsea Buhler, Su Lun, Jade MalcolmThank you to the all the teen mentors for their enthusiasm,time and willingness to mentor graduating teens.Goober CarlyleKath LiuAurelie NuguesTivamile DlaminiStephen ChouAngelo DiNozziManav MehtaJustin BlendsEva TengDumile DlaminiJosh HorwitzJosh Van RooSam DulaneyStephanie BovisLeo 37Poppa BaerLionelCalum Tollervey14 october 2011 www.communitycenter.org.tw