Alan and Rodrigo

When Alan and Rodrigo were matched in 2009, Rodrigo was in eighth grade and at risk of not reaching his full potential due to the challenges he was facing at school. In 2013 Rodrigo graduated from high school.  His mentor Alan was on hand for the ceremony and couldn’t have been prouder of Rodrigo, who is also going off to college this fall. Alan was a big fan of fantasy batting practice on the field of AT&T Park led by former Giants Vida Blue and Rich Murray. This was a Friends for Youth group activity hosted by Oracle. Rodrigo said his favorite activity was going fishing. “I had never been before, and it was exciting to catch my first fish,” he described. During their initial one year commitment to the program they also went go-kart racing, bowling, attended baseball games, played video games, went to the movies, served a meal at the veterans’ hospital, and ate lots of pizza. They had so much fun in that first year that they decided to stay friends and continue hanging out.

“I’ve encouraged him to try new stuff,” Alan said. “A lot of what we did were first time things for him”. Rodrigo explained, “I was kind of scared at first. But that changed. All of the activities were encouraging and fun!”. Rodrigo has another adventure ahead of him as he will be a student at a California State University soon. “It’s cool that he’s going off to college, and the fact that he’s excited about it impresses me,” Alan said. In looking back at their Friendship, Rodrigo said, “Alan is like a second brother to me,” and when asked what makes an effective mentor Rodrigo responded, “someone you can count on.”