By Diksha Lal
When Connect Me first started, it had just a few members operating the nonprofit in Michigan. Over the last three years, we have grown to have over 300 members actively tutoring more than 1,000 students. In our early years, we’ve been featured on Fox News and have even started up an internship program with USF. We have further branched out our impact by starting up an after-school tutoring program at Oakman. We’ve reached 8 countries with our nonprofit and are now the biggest student-led nonprofit in the country.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I went ahead and interviewed a couple of tutors and members within Connect Me about how much they have been influenced by the nonprofit and how thankful they are for being a part of it.
Mehmet Tascioglu, our founder and chair, says that Connect Me contributed to his public speaking skills and solidified his leadership qualities. Starting up Connect Me helped him grow and become the person he is now.
One of our tutors, Josh Osiel, says that Connect Me changed his outlook on community service, realizing that the feeling of knowing that he helped someone in need is like no other.
Osiel also remarks that he is most thankful for the opportunities and experiences that Connect Me opened up for him. Being the Deputy Chair of the Admissions Department of Connect Me helped strengthen and form new communication and cooperative skills that he stresses can’t be found anywhere else.
His favorite thing about being a tutor is the feeling he gets when he helps students. He claims he struggles to put it into words, but says that when he knows he helped someone with their education makes him feel helpful and that it overall feels great. He conveys, “Being a tutor just feels right.”
Within Connect Me, he is most thankful for the guidance and teamwork skills he retained while being a part of a department. It taught him how to work in group settings flexibly since Connect Me is fully virtual.
Another one of our tutors, Ritvik Ellendula, shares, “Connect Me has had an amazing impact on my life in regards to progressing myself on a professional and personal level.”
Being the chair of the Partnerships Department and a member of the Operations Department, Ellendula’s leadership experiences within Connect Me taught him about the true commitment it takes to make this organization run properly.
Out of everything, Ellendula notes that he is most grateful for all the lessons he has learned from being a part of Connect Me. Along with the experiences he has had, they’ve all been extremely formative to the person he is now.
In just a few years, Connect Me has gone from a small nonprofit located in Michigan to the biggest student-led organization in the country. With over 300 tutors helping over 1,000 students, we have reached 8 countries and even got featured on Fox News. Connect Me is not just about tutoring, but we’re also about personal and professional growth for our remarkable members.
The stories of our tutors showcase how Connect Me has changed lives. The organization helped members become better leaders, see community service from a new perspective, and grow professionally. These stories, shared in the spirit of Thanksgiving, highlight how Connect Me isn’t just a nonprofit, but how it’s also a powerful organization that empowers others to make a positive impact in the world.