Celtics rookie Grant Williams has started a virtual mentoring program
"You don’t remember everything you went through as a 15-year-old."
Once stay-at-home orders are lifted, one of the items on Celtics rookie Grant Williams’s to-do list is to meet the six high school students he began mentoring in April.
Williams, who relocated to his hometown of Charlotte amid the NBA’s shutdown, has virtually met with the group at least four times, though their first in-person meeting has been delayed as a result of the restrictions put in place due to the coronavirus.
“They have these ideas of what we’re going to do or funny things that could happen,” Williams told The Undefeated’s Marc Spears. “They all want to go bowling when I get back to Boston. I will be happy for that day.”
Through his agency and an organization called MENTOR, Williams has been connected with six African American and Hispanic teenage boys from the Boston area.
Starting with their first meeting, Williams has stressed the importance of being on time and engaged. The group has since become a support system that allows all participants, including Williams, to open up about life experiences. Among the topics broached include the death of a family member, the possibility of transferring schools, and parental divorce.
In addition to their video conferences, the group has an Instagram chat.
“I’ve learned more about myself,” Williams said. “You don’t remember everything you went through as a 15-year-old. Looking back, being able to share my experiences and looking at them has given me the opportunity to not only help them, but help myself by learning more about how I was thinking back then.”
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