Blackburn Mentoring works with high school students, college students and young professionals across New York City and Westchester entirely by video. Our team is based in Los Angeles. Each client is matched with one dedicated mentor who meets weekly or several times a week in Eastern time, with text and phone check-ins in between.
What the New York pace does to a schedule
Most New Yorkers do not get a slow week. A student in Brooklyn may spend 45 minutes each way on the subway. A parent in Scarsdale or Rye catches an early train into Grand Central and gets home after dinner. Young professionals in finance, law, media and tech often work hours that swallow their evenings. Plans get made and then dropped, not from lack of ambition but because the calendar was full before Monday started.
Video mentoring suits that rhythm because nobody has to travel. A session can happen from a bedroom desk in Bronxville, a quiet room in a Midtown office or a laptop on the couch in Astoria.
Picking a session time from the East Coast
New York is three hours ahead of our Los Angeles team, which tends to work in clients’ favor. Common patterns:
- After school: 4:00 or 5:00 pm Eastern (1:00 or 2:00 pm in Los Angeles), once the student is home and before homework starts.
- Early evening: 7:00 pm Eastern (4:00 pm Pacific), popular with college students and with parents who want to join part of a high school session.
- Lunch hour: a 30 minute session at noon or 1:00 pm Eastern for professionals who can step away from their desk.
- Sunday: a standing session to plan the week before it gets going.
Between sessions, your mentor checks in by text and phone, which matters in a city where a week can turn sideways by Tuesday.
High school students in the five boroughs and Westchester
New York teens handle things kids elsewhere do not: getting themselves around the city on their own, a public high school application process that starts in eighth grade, and in many Westchester towns, packed schedules and early talk about college. A mentor for high school students works on the skills underneath the grades:
- Keeping a calendar that reflects the real week, commute time included
- Breaking long assignments and projects into steps spread across several days
- A routine that holds up around late practices, rehearsals and weekend activities
- Talking through stress, friendships and decisions with an adult who is not a parent
A parent or guardian always joins the intro call, agrees the goals and gets regular progress updates. Our mentors are not tutors or admissions counselors; they work alongside the people a family already has in place.
First jobs and first apartments in the city
Many young adults we hear from in New York have the job they wanted and still feel off balance: long hours, rent that eats a large share of each paycheck, roommates, and a sense that everyone else has it figured out. Mentoring for young adults here usually starts with practical ground:
- A monthly budget that accounts for rent, transit and the real cost of going out
- Protecting sleep, exercise and a few fixed habits during heavy work weeks
- Thinking through a job change, a raise conversation or a return to school
- Staying connected to friends and family when work takes over
If long hours have turned into burnout, anxiety or a low mood that will not lift, a licensed professional is the right step, and a mentor can help you find and keep those appointments. In a crisis, call or text 988.
College students coming and going
Students who grew up here often leave for college elsewhere, while others arrive in New York for school and find the city harder to manage than they expected. A mentor helps with the first year of college, choosing classes, finding internships and building a schedule that does not depend on a parent’s reminders. Sessions continue by video wherever the student lands.
Where a mentor fits in a New York family
The value is consistency: one mentor, a standing time, weekly goals small enough to finish, and someone who notices when things start slipping. With permission, the mentor shares progress with parents and coordinates with tutors, school counselors or therapists already involved. Read more about how online mentoring works.
Related
- Online mentoring in Greenwich and Fairfield County
- Online mentoring on Long Island
- Your first job after college
- How we work with families
- Online Mentoring in Westchester County
- Online Mentoring in Buffalo and Rochester, NY
- Online Mentoring in Albany and the Capital Region
Common questions
Do you meet in person in New York?
No. Our team is based in Los Angeles, and clients in New York City and Westchester work with us entirely by video, with text and phone contact between sessions.
Can sessions work around a long commute?
Yes. Some professionals take a 30 minute session at lunch, and many students meet at 4:00 or 5:00 pm Eastern after getting home. We agree a standing time on the intro call.
Can my teen’s mentor talk with their school counselor or tutor?
With your permission, yes. Mentors coordinate with professionals already involved and share regular progress updates with parents.
How do we start?
Take the five-minute assessment on our Get Started page. Our team reviews it personally and sets up a free intro call.
Get started
Want to talk about mentoring in New York? Call (888) 305 5422, email contact@blackburnmentoring.com or start with a short assessment. A member of our team reviews every assessment personally and sets up a free intro call.