Spreading the GEAR UP message

On Nov. 22, 2013 I did my first radio interview and it was to promote the fact that GEAR UP does work. It was a little nerve racking since I had never done a radio interview and let alone for a radio station several states away from me. I am so blessed to have had this opportunity.

To listen to the interview click here!

Keep inspiring y'all,
Maria Ibarra

Bloom Where You Are Planted

Yesterday, I had the incredible opportunity to go back to the high school that I attended, Blue Mountain Union School, in Wells River, Vermont, and I was going to talk to the middle school students, faculty, as well as the school board on my experience of getting to college, and give some simple advice to these students.

I proceeded to tell these students about how I grew up: from the time I was born until I was 15, my family moved 18 times!  When we finally moved into the BMU school district, I declared that I would graduate here.  Unfortunately, at the end of my sophomore year of high school there, my parents told my siblings and I we were moving yet again.  Therefore, I set out to try and stay at BMU, and the way I saw to be able to do that was to become an emancipated minor, legally an adult at 16 years old.  While I was working on becoming emancipated, my GEAR UP counselor Dianne was trying to get me to think about what I wanted to do once I graduated high school.  I sort of blew her off (sorry, Dianne!) and put it in the back of my mind.  This came back to bite me once it came time to apply to colleges.  I only applied to two, and on the application this question came up: pick the top three areas of study you are interested in.  I hadn't considered this much at all, and so I made a very uninformed decision - 1) Biology; 2) Chemistry; 3) History.  I picked these three because I liked these classes in high school - a pretty sound decision, right? Well, I attended the University of Vermont (UVM) majoring in Biology the following year.  When it came time to meet with my advisor, I found it frustrating because I literally had 10 minutes with her.  I had never met her before, she didn't know me, and she had 80 other students to advise.  I said I was interested in medical school and was curious as to what classes I should try and take next semester.  Instead I got this response: "You should think about being a nurse...my sister is a nurse and has done really well for herself."  Utterly confused, I left, did some research on my own, and came back the next week.  I said that I had looked up some classes I thought would be good to take and wanted some advice.  The response? "Thats good, have you thought about being a medical laboratory scientist?" What?  Confused and frustrated, I left again - this time I was searching for a new major, and a new advisor to help me out.  I ended up transferring into the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics department - I knew nothing about either of these subjects, but as I talked to my new advisor, I felt more reassured.  Again, I said I was interested in going to medical school, but had no idea how.  He laid it all out for me, giving me plenty of suggestions to get me ready to apply to medical school.  Finally! Someone with advice that was relevant to my needs, and focused on what I was interested in.  

Anyway, the point that I gave to the students I told this story to: 

1) Start thinking about what you're interested in NOW.  Don't think about what you want to do for the rest of your life, but develop the interests you have.  Those interests can develop into something more further down the line. And don't ignore people when they are asking that all important question!  You don't have to know what you want to do right now, but you do know what you like to do, or are interested in, and someone, somewhere will be able to help you further develop those interests - and people in an environment such as a school can help connect you with people who can develop your interests.  Be it cooking, history, or diesel mechanics, your interests will help make those all important decisions later on.

When you do something you love, it doesn't feel like work at all.

2) It is okay to change your mind about what you think you want to do later in life.  I spent a lot of time going back and forth between pursuing a PhD and MD.  Its okay to make a change, just make sure you are okay with the change - not everyone else, you.  

Because of course, only you can ultimately decide how happy you are in life.

As I was leaving BMU, I noticed a banner over an archway.  It said "Bloom Where You Are Planted" - and that is totally right.  Make the absolute most of your situation, because each experience you have can help you to learn something that can be useful to you in the future.  A perfect saying to students in middle and high school.

And, of course, remember... #GEARUPworks!

Cody Paiva

GEAR UP Nevada

Hi Everyone,

This is Alumni Leader Stephani Ruiz from the beautiful State of Nevada. I wanted to share with you how excited I am to start working with my Mentor and Coach Irene Zepeda. My Coach is a GEAR UP Ambassador at the College of Southern Nevada. I am looking forward to better serving my GEAR UP community. I am excited about growing and expanding my knowledge towards my GEAR UP program. I will be keep you all updated with the new exciting projects we are coming up with.

Thank you,

Stephani Ruiz

My Gear Up LOVE

Hello All!
My this will be my first formal blog! I wanted to share with you stories of love and achievement that I have experienced as a Gear Up student, Gear Up Assistant and GUALA! I am going to use pictures as a proof to my stories!

Story #1: Hello, I Am From Here

This is a picture that I took of our first Gear Up Summer Camp in 2012. I was an assistant this year and had my own group of kids to look after! This picture is a picture that I really love because it shows how one summer camp got our kids so close together! This picture has kids from three of the four schools that their grant covers; Presidio, Alpine and Del Rio. The school that did not attend this camp was Terlingua. Anyways, I think this first camp was such a success because our kids were excited, they were always positive and wanting to do awesome things and they made friends with everyone! :) By day two of our camp, kids were going around introducing themselves to others and making new friends! Gear Up gave them the opportunity to make new friends!


Story #2: Scientists and Goggles! 

This picture is also of our kiddos in the first camp. They would go to classes during the mornings and they happened to get a hold of a lab and use lab equipment to make volcanoes! They were so excited to be learning about volcanoes and they were even more excited when they got a chance to create one of their own and make it explode! The kids loved being in college classrooms and being able to learn in them while also making new friends! They looked like such little professional scientists!

Story #3: Love For Our Lost One <3

Just recently, one of our GEAR UP students from Del Rio, Texas passed away. He was in a horrible accident that cost him his life. This student was in our Gear Up grant but I never got the privilege to meet him. He never attended any of our Gear Up camps so I cannot say that I knew him but my kids were hurting so I am sure that he was a great person. I have a Gear Up page on my facebook and one of my girls from Alpine, Texas, a school about 3 hours away posted this picture. She wrote with it "Victoria and I put this on our hands in loving memory of Alfredo Garcia". These girls were supporting Del Rio's pain 300 miles away!


That is all for now :) I have many more stories to share but not enough time to write them all tonight!

Signing out! Daisy Valentina Perez :)

Education shouldn't be like Halloween?

 

 

 

Halloween—a holiday that can be a huge hit or great miss. Either super fun, full of yummy cavity-inducing pieces of carbohydrates composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, OR an adventure in near-freezing temperatures when nobody guesses your costume and your siblings get more candy than you do. A holiday when everyone decides they want to go to the "wealthy" neighborhoods because they will hand out more candy, or have better ones.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that a lot of us really do look for the most cost efficient ways of going about our day, even when it comes to going trick-or-treating. The cost benefit ratio of going up a hill with a few houses on a cul-de-sac might not seem worth the walk, for example. Logically, most of us we go to the easy-access houses that have the best decorations because most likely, "you will get more for your buck".

All that aside, I have noticed that education unfortunately can be perceived in this same matter. Students can start to believe that if a school is not going to provide the "right chocolate" or "enough", then it is not worth attending anymore. So what I am trying to get at? Recently, I've been wondering:

Can we make it so that everyone is getting their fair share of mega-sized Kit Kats, Jolly Ranchers, M&M's (peanuts, pretzel, dark chocolate...), giant gummy worms, Nerds, and Starbursts? Can we change our ideas about the purpose of Halloween, and understand that it is all about having a good time, walking around our communities, and participating in a nation-wide holiday that unifies us in our fear of death and all things spooky?

Can we make it so that education becomes a place without discrimination, so that all of our kids have equal access to a world of exploration, growth, and fun? Can we give our passionate leaders a place to communicate and collaborate to come together and make change? Can we give all the best to kids regardless of their zip code?

That’s exactly what GEAR UP is doing! Now, students can see endless possibilities, many of which were students who wouldn't usually see the benefit of a post-secondary education. They have shifted their paradigms and see value in going to school. GEAR UP lets us know that the cost benefit ratio of education is actually in our favor if we are willing to dream, pardon, PLAN in big ways! As a community, anyone is capable of achieving even the grandest of impossibilities, like winning Willy Wonka's golden ticket. It seems scary to leave your hometown, to do things that you have never done before, spend thousands of dollars on something that you don't know a thing about except the fact that it doesn’t guarantee a job especially with our economic recession.

But, as one collective, we can change the culture. College can actually be a great investment-once we make it plausible for everyone to put on a “costume” and go forth and prosper—wherever they may find themselves. So today, the day after Halloween, what candy will you hand out? Can you continue to distribute the precious goodies all kids are craving? Will you help the children of your home see the value of a higher education? Can you change the fact that kids are dropping out of school and falling through the cracks because they don't see the benefit of paying for a future that their parents can't always help pave? Will YOU be there to help fill the cavities?

GEAR UP has and will continue to do so, and I will attempt to help. #GUALA 

Below: Lucy and Miss America discussing education after going out trick-or-treating.
Coming soon: Equity for all, and to all a great education!



 

Thank you,

-Alma Irene Aguilar