Post D.C. Experience!

Hey Everyone! 

After our awesome time in Washington D.C., I spent the next month being super busy with two pretty great summer programs that the Yale-Bridgeport Gear UP Partnership here in Connecticut worked hard to put together for our Gear UP members!

The first one included our 8th graders (rising 9th graders) at Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport, CT. This program was a 5-week long program that allowed all 8th graders from every middle school in Bridgeport to be apart of. These students would show up for breakfast, have a math and an english course to take and then take part in a MAAX (Maximizing Academic Achievement and eXcellence) course in which the gear up advisors would facilitate. This course taught life skills, ways to cope with certain academic and social issues people face, time management, and many other important and helpful tools. Then, towards the end of the day, the students had enrichment and team building activities to choose from. The purpose of this schedule was not only to get them a head start on how high school math and english courses would look like, but to provide support and resources from each other as well as the gear up staff. 

Their transition from middle school to high school, as we all know, is a very vital and critical change that most students don't get to prepare for the way gear up students do! These students have received the advantage of touring their high schools, becoming familiar with their class schedules and classes, getting an understanding of the workload they will encounter, and get to meet fellow freshmen before the school year even starts. Oh, The things gear up does for higher education! 

I had the pleasure to be apart of their experience and definitely utilized many skills that I learned in Washington, D.C. to help them feel motivated and prepared for high school. It was eye opening to have heard responses back from speaking with many students and asking them about their future goals and whether or not they wanted to go to college. Most of these students didn't have it in their plans to attend college. Towards the end of the program, the same questions were asked and the responses changed. These students got the chance to learn the importance of college and education in general and are now looking forward to their high school years. 

The second program was very similar in format but it was planned for the 11th graders (rising 12th graders) in preparation for their transition from high school to college. This program took place at the University of Bridgeport and was a 3-week long program. I also had the pleasure of working with these students and providing the same support I did to the incoming freshmen. I will be working more closely with the seniors once the fall comes. My favorite part of this particular program had to be the 2 days training that the seniors received who signed up to be mentors to the incoming freshmen. They received training from the Mentoring Ignition Society on what a mentor is, how to effectively mentor, and were a part of team building activities that they will become professional at facilitating once the school year starts. 

It has been truly amazing to be apart of so many important transitions in students' lives and witnessing growth, intellect, and motivation expand before my eyes. -- It has become my personal motivation to continue mentoring and growing with my students. 

In the fall, I will be at Central High School helping students apply for college, applying for financial aid and scholarships, and continuing to mentor and tutor students who need it. I'm looking forward to National Gear UP Week which I will be helping plan come September. I think back to last fall when I was apart of many events that week and I'm very excited to do bigger and better things this week to honor the program, those individuals working hard to keep it going, and the students who do nothing but appreciate Gear UP and all that it does for them!

[keep shining bright leaders!]

Maysoun Chawiche

     Connecticut 

GUALA, Youth Congress, Education, and My Culture-the short version :D

"Why would anyone who is as smart as you come here [Wenatchee, Lake Chelan, and the Yakima Valley] to harvest the crops under the scorching sun and at such low wages?"

My farm worker colleagues have asked me this same question thousands of times since I was in high school. Their faces in awe as I climb my ladder to reach the bushel of cherries at the very tip top of the tree that has been assigned to me.

Here is part of my answer: I love waking up at four in the morning and watching the sunrise as cars with entire families inside, make their way to the fields ready to harvest the crops of the season. I love the adrenaline of risking a fall from 10 (sometimes even more) feet in the air. The sound of Spanish--from the chit chat of the workers, to the radio blasting everything from corridos to durangense, to the lunch ladies' shouting out what food they have for those who forgot or didn't have time to pack a lunch--it makes me feel at home, comfortable and safe.

Most importantly though, I want people to understand that scholars who have left their hometowns to attend college, often have the desire to go back to their communities and be involved in the work of their friends and family. I know I do. Just because I am considered to be "educated", doesn't mean that I am somehow disconnected from the neighborhood where I grew up.

When I am back in the Yakima Valley (as I am now), my sociology studies at Whitworth University help me understand things like how the educative Opportunity/Achievement Gap prevents kids from going into post-secondary education; how youth in my community have had their dreams to go to college crushed by others (many times by their own family members); or even why U.S politics are despised here instead of just criticized like in the rest of the nation.

All this to say that education is amazing! Education can help you calculate the best cost: benefit ratio when you are looking at working in the hops in Wapato versus picking plums in Zillah. It can be used when designing cold-air fans that keep fruit from frosting over in the winter. It's also helpful when trying to translate what a high school transcript says to a migrant parent that never went to middle school. Education is everywhere-even the agriculturally based communities.

Where did I get my education and how did I get there? 

Well...

One important facilitator has been the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP). Not only did it get me to a great institution of higher education (Let's go BUCS!-WU's mascot), but it has also provided me with the experience of the GEAR UP Alumni Leadership Academy (GUALA), which surpassed all of my expectations of what an education advocacy, policy, and leadership training could look like.

Not to mention, that GEAR UP also helped me participate in the Youth Congress in San Francisco this past July where I had the honor of working with fabulous groups of kids from all over the nation, to become strong leaders (and followers), gain more courage to be themselves, and use education to break free from the issues that sometimes infest low-income, high diversity populations (drugs, violence, ignorance, etc).

I am blessed with opportunities that have allowed me to grow so much thus far, but I can't help but wonder what great things my friends could be doing too had someone invested in their potential, such as some of my mentors have in mine.

In summary, I wish that more people could value education and the returning of those who are seen as scholarly and/or successful. We are all responsible for the improvement of our communities and for the increase in our self-confidence to make a difference. Sometimes it seems like school is unnecessary, a waste of time, or "dumb" (ironically), but I would challenge anyone to find anything in their lives that did not involve education.

Truthfully,
#GEARUPworks  #lovemyGUALAmates  #iloveed  #nerdforlife #amoamigente #sisepuede

**A special thanks to the following organizations for believing in me and guiding me to a life full of everyday learning: as previously mentioned, GEAR UP and all of its resources/support for learning, exploring, and pursuing post secondary education; The Toppenish School District and all of its staff, faculty, and students (past, present, and future);  and Seattle Biomedical Research Institute for fostering the idea that education is the key to making dreams a reality-even seemingly impossible global health ones.

Thanks for reading, and "talk to you soon" because this girl continues to learn!

Sincerely,
Alma Irene Aguilar

Alumni Leader in the Republic of China (Taiwan)

Everyday, my shirt is always wet when I arrive at the Chinese Language Center at the National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, Taiwan. It is only a ten minute walk from the dormitories to the center but the heat and humidity is something that you cannot hide from. I am a big person but I know I am not that big to end up walking off the sidewalk. Here in Tainan, the sidewalks have become parking lots for the many mopeds that are used each day as a popular mode of transportation. Each day is an adventure. Each day is a blessing. Each day I learn new things about myself and always remember the different people and organizations in my life that made me who I am today.

The other day I was sitting a dumpling restaurant eating lunch. I was thinking about how grateful I was to be in Taiwan studying abroad and learning a language that I find to be very fascinating. Then I thought to myself, "How in the world did I receive this wonderful opportunity?!" Sometimes when I have free time this question always pops in my mind. I always know the answer to it though... It is all because of GEAR UP.

Opportunities to study abroad and travel to different places is something that I would have never dreamed of doing during my late middle school and early high school days. GEAR UP was there to help me look in the right places. Multiple workshops and sessions that GEAR UP held at my school about the University of Hawai‘i was what got me. I knew I wanted to travel and college was the only way for my to reach that awesome dream.

In just my two years of college I have interned in New York City, Washington, D.C. and have done community service in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Now, I am in Taiwan learning Chinese and also learning about Taiwanese culture and life. I am happy that I got to experience all these wonderful opportunities and I thank GEAR UP for making me a ambitious and passionate person.

One thing that GEAR UP taught me was always remembering where I come from. I grew up in a community where many students from immigrant families do not have the support needed to make it to and through college. GEAR UP was the backbone that I needed to break down all the stereotypes of my community and use my struggles to achieve my goals.

I love programs such as GEAR UP so much that I plan to do something similar in the future. Education has been very important to me since my involvement in GEAR UP that I hope to one day do the same for the high school students in the community that I grew up in. Being selected as a GEAR UP Alumni Leader is an honor. It is honor to meet the 29 other GEAR UP Alumni whose lives were also changed through the power of GEAR UP.

I have been in Taiwan for over a month now but my passion for helping high school students have not ended. In the past two weeks, I have visited two different school in Tainan to talk about the importance of higher education and embracing one's story. I visited both Deguang Catholic High School and the National Tainan First Senior High School in Tainan. Here are photos of me speaking to the students:

Speaking About College

Girls from National Tainan First Senior High School

Just like the students from many high schools in the United States, they did not know how to ask for help when it comes to applying for colleges. I found it interesting how their questions were exactly the same questions that many students ask me when talking about the college application process. My presentation consisted of giving them the confidence to embrace their story and believe in themselves when applying for college. I tried to give them as much information in a fun and interesting way. The workshops during the GEAR UP leader week in Washington, D.C. helped me to definitely prepare for talks like this. I even talked to the students about programs such as GEAR UP and there were amazed that programs like this exist in other countries. Taiwan's educational system is really different from the US but that didn't stop me from trying to motivate these students about being passionate about what they love doing and using that passion for the future. 

As my time gets shorter here in Taiwan, I am making sure that I learn as much about the language and culture of the people in this part of the world. I cannot wait to get back home to work with the many students in Hawai‘i conquer the grueling college application process. 

GEAR UP for life! #gearupworks 

Here are photos of things I've seen in Taiwan so far: 

Taipei 101

Many Buddhist Temples

Taiwanese Host Family 

Pai-Wan Aboriginal Village