On this last day of January, it seems fitting to talk about Garrison Lockley.

January is, after all, Mentoring Awareness Month and Lockley is the Mentoring Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Institute of Technology in Media.

The private non-profit college offers an education for career development and advancement, college transfer opportunities, and personal growth. Part of its mission is to provide as much help, financially and academically, to the students who pass through its classrooms.

Lockley has been an employee at P.I.T. for the past 13 years. He works in the Student Affairs Department as an Academic Support Coach as well as a coordinator for the tutoring program and the TRIO SSS Mentoring Program.

Lockley is also an ordained pastor at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Pottstown, where he has served for seven years.

He’s also a community leader and an advocate for Pennsylvania fair funding for all public school districts.

Mentoring is something he takes to heart after someone pointed out to him years ago that “no one can get through life without someone helping them.”

Since his high school days, he’s always tried to mentor youth and adult learners.

“Mentoring is the key to unlocking someone’s potential and success, but one must learn to walk through the door without fear. To conquer fear is asking for help,” Lockley said.

He’s set up a mentoring program that has former PIT graduates return to volunteer as mentors to support current students in the federal TRIO Student Support Services Program. That program is open to low-income first-time college students.

” As a SSS mentor, they can help their mentees navigate through the rigors of college life and be a resource to provide them with emotional support through life challenges and help celebrate their successes both in and out of the classroom,” Lockley said.

For those who choose to mentor, he describes it as a “life-changing experience and you will grow personally.”

Find out more about the Pennsylvania Institute of Technology.