Jasmine and Lynell
January 2025 TeamMates of the Month: Game for Anything
In the beginning, Lynell was just excited to get to know her TeamMate, Jasmine. She’d had a mentee before and knew that the process, while not difficult, could take time.
“A lot of people think you need to teach your mentee or something. But it’s really more of a sharing experience.”
After having a quiet, shy mentee previously, Lynell enjoys a different experience now.
“Jasmine was outgoing and talkative from the start, which I thought was wonderful.”
Jasmine is impressed by the way Lynell is game to try anything she suggests, including slime.
“She always goes into things that I want to do. She kind of goes out of her comfort zone to do them, like throwing slime back and forth in the library.”
They both laugh remembering Jasmine’s “slime phase”. It wasn’t just about the slime though. It was also about building a foundation of reliability and trust.
“She actually listens,” Jasmine says. “Some people don’t listen.”
Lynell sees the benefit for them both.
“I think, you know, she’s comfortable sharing with me about her family, about what she’d like to do, so I think that we feel pretty comfortable together.”
And Jasmine agrees.
“I trust her with my life. TeamMates is a lot different than just talking to a person. It’s mostly about making friends, slowly, like working on and finding new things you like, or different things you can do with your life.”
Lynell sees Jasmine as “strong”, one of three words she chose to describe her mentee.
“There are times where she’s, I mean,” she turns to address Jasmine directly. “You’re strong because you’ve had to be.”
Lynell shares an example of what she means.
“As she was talking about a person at school who bullied her, I saw the steps, the mental steps she took to work that out. She realized it wasn’t really her problem, but the other person’s problem. She realizes how she can grow from those situations rather than feel sorry for herself.”
Jasmine is an avid horse lover and works with horses as much as she can. She rides some, including a bareback experiment which landed her with a broken arm. Like her mentor, she’s not afraid to try new things even if it means a setback.
“I will try anything,” says Lynell. “I don’t mind failure do I?”
The two of them exchange a knowing glance.
Being able to read people is something Jasmine says she has learned from horses.
“I like talking to people but it depends. I have a feeling if they’re nice or not.”
The verdict is clearly in on her mentor. High school lies ahead and after that, they both hope, the chance to go see horses together for the first time.