WriteGirl does not require that a mentor have published work, but each applicant is asked for writing samples to demonstrate her communication skills. Mentors are then interviewed one-on-one, their references are checked and they go through training before finally, they are matched with the girl they can help the most. Mentors meet their students for an hour of tutoring each week, as well as at the monthly WriteGirl workshop. At the end of each workshop, the girls read their writing to the other participants. WriteGirl believes that regularly performing for an audience boosts a girl’s confidence in herself, her writing and, consequently, her view of life’s possibilities.

Since today is the first workshop of the season, many girls have brought their family members to today’s workshop and a 7-year-old little sister is itching to share her work with the rest of the group. Excited by the writing exercises geared toward her teenage sister, the adorable girl grabs the microphone and thoughtfully begins to recite, “I love my sister. Sometimes we have sleepovers,” she pauses, but when her father nods approvingly, her eyes light up and she lets out a very loud and happy, “Yaaaaaay!”