Halima Adenegan graduated from Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland.In 2012 ― four years after she graduated ― she started a program to help guide, or mentor, the young women in this high school.The name of the mentoring program is Imara Roose. Imara is Swahili for strong, and Roose is from part of the school's name.The mentors are female college students. They volunteer as big sisters and role models.Each week, the members of Imara Roose gather in a large group to discuss topics that interest them.They talk about physical fitness and being healthy, as well as social media and their self-image.Sometimes, they talk in smaller groups. In these small groups, a mentor answers their questions.On other occasions, students meet with just their mentor.Ms. Adenegan said these discussions are good for people who are shy or who have private questions.Ms. Adenegan said the high school women can feel comfortable in the group.They are free to discuss common issues, personal problems and the difficulty of being a teenager."I think they just need someone to say I've been here,I've done that, just follow what I'm doing because I don't want you to do the same mistakes that I did."?
