In celebration of our mentors and mentees, Mentor Appreciation Night will take place on November 1, 2019. Partners for Youth with Disabilities presents the Chris Dunne Peer Leadership award to Nathan Persampieri who has been a part of PYD since 2017.
A college freshman, Nathan found PYD through his summer camp program. He recently started the One-to-One Mentoring Program, which is a system where one of our match specialists pair mentors and mentees based on their skills and personalities.
Just last week Chris visited Nathan’s house. “Chris came over, and we went and grabbed lunch and talked about all sorts of things. We are trying to meet again next week for lunch and I want to try to meet him every week.”
Nathan felt shocked when he learned about his nomination for the Chris Dunne Peer Leadership Award.
He said, “I don’t know why I am chosen for this award, but I am very happy PYD chose me.”
Nathan proudly talked about what PYD has taught him over the span of his involvement. “PYD has taught me self-advocacy and leadership skills that will help me with whatever I do in the future.”
He has also learned how essential teamwork is, especially when working collaboratively on projects in college. To anyone considering getting involved, Nathan says PYD helps people with or without disabilities practice self-advocacy skills and become more career-ready.
At the end of the interview Nathan told us, “PYD is a great community to be a part of. If people want to join, they can, and it’s a really good experience.”
Anyone interested in PYD’s one-to-one mentor match program can click on this link and join us today.
This blog post was written by Emily Chen of the BU PR Lab.