By Emily Baldauf
Staff Writer

It was just another stressful day for mechanical engineering student Josh Quinn. But as he walked home from a busy day of classes, he heard an unfamiliar sound on campus — children laughing. His curiosity pushed him to investigate and follow the happy voices.

"I was just thinking 'please let me know someone up there so I can play with the children,'" said Josh Quinn, who is now a junior in the School of Technology. To Quinn’s surprise, he did know one of the Purdue students that was supervising the children.

When Quinn got up to the group, he began playing with a young boy. After talking to some of the other college students that were there, Quinn found out they were all part of the same organization, College Mentors for Kids. After a fun afternoon of playing, Quinn knew he wanted to be a part of the program.

Quinn said he told Erin Taylor, College Mentors for Kids president and a sophomore in the School of Consumer and Family Sciences, that he loves to play with kids and wanted to volunteer. "I get stressed out with school and other activities," he said. "Playing with the kids gives me such a relief."

College Mentors for Kids is designed to provide elementary children with college-aged mentors and new experiences that will positively impact their future decisions.

"The program pairs youth in the community, first through fourth grade, and brings them to Purdue every week to participate in activities focusing on art and culture, diversity, education and college life," said Taylor. "But it is more than that. It is about creating a sense of family, trust, love and instilling self-confidence."

The elementary children who are involved are hand selected by the elementary school principal and counselor. According to Taylor, a lot of the children didn’t even know what college was before coming to College Mentors for Kids.

"One of our goals is to give kids that wouldn’t normally have the chance to go to college the hope and motivation they need to consider college," said Quinn. "We also try to be good role models that kids need when they are growing up so they can be the best they can be."

The group consists of 40 Purdue students from all disciplines and backgrounds. This year, College Mentors for Kids had 20 mentors and 20 other volunteers waiting to be mentors. Each mentor plans two activities a year, and each volunteer helps the mentors by planning events with them, interacting with the children and fund raising.

Each week, the group provides the children with a new activity. Some of the activities that have been done in the past include visiting the Purdue airport, police and fire station; having a space day; baking cookies in Stone Hall; and touring Ross-Ade Stadium. Other activities involve more Purdue students such as trick-or-treating in the residence halls and selling lemonade by the fountains, an enterprise that made $60 in one hour.

"(Our goal is) to provide children with an opportunity to learn about what college is about, to have fun, make lasting buddies — big and little — and to provide the kids with activities that broaden their horizons and expand their minds," said Taylor.

Although the program requires a lot of time and work for involved students, volunteers stress that it is important to them to give back to the community.

"We all spend many hours devoted to the program to make it the best that it can be, but I believe we all take more than we put in," said Taylor. "We gain friendships and that is one of the most important things that a person could have."