Senior Scholars

As the Seniors start their last year as Scholars in the program, I started my first day as mentor. Before we got started with anything, Program Director Nadia went over the supply list for the Senior’s Portfolio Class. When that concluded, we introduced our name and pronouns. Youth Advocate Candice went around passing everyone a Pink Post-it and we were told to create a 6 word sentence describing how we feel about our portfolio. I wrote “Complicated yet intricate designs, Must do!” Among the most interesting sentences that was written by a Scholar was “I’m trapped inside an anxious mind.” After going through the sentences, we played a quick game of Zip, Zap, Zop! and Nicole won in the end. We then got into a more serious exercise where Candice passed around more Post-its in a certain order with each color representing something different: Pink for 3 things you’re interested in; Blue for 3 things you need; and Gray for 3 places you want to visit. After finishing each Post-it, the Scholars placed them on the corresponding wall and the class split into 3. Each person in the group talked about what they wrote on their Post-its and to see if they, as a group, can find commonalities. Each group shared at the end what they found in common with each other. Later, we talked about our goals for the future, what the Scholars want to achieve by the end of this first semester. They created a long list of what they want to happen and let’s see what will time hold of these guys. Finally, we all went to Blick to purchase sketchbooks and we were dismissed from there. – Dirmawan Luawo

Junior Scholars

The first day for the juniors at the program was a success because of all they accomplished in one day. After lunch, the juniors went right ahead and bought the supplies they need for their classes. Everyone was satisfied with their new supplies. Next, the juniors headed to their classroom with their advocates and mentors. They played two fun games at the start and finish of the class in order to get a good vibe flowing throughout the first day. In between the class, Francisco and Sophia (advocates) were spoke about the pre- college program as a whole. Francisco was asking the class what can they all do as a community in the program.  Then, he created a list that the class began to work on, but eventually will continue to develop over time, that talks about commitment. For example, the class discussed ways they can stay commit to keeping a safe environment in the program, commit to being organized and work hard during the year, commit to stay proactive and friendly, commit to respect one another and the work made by peers, commit to give constructive criticism during critiques, commit to teamwork and collaborations, commit to long and short term goals, etc. The juniors were all engaged in the conversation and shared very important key notes for keeping a productive and safe environment. The juniors were all cooperative while conversations were going on and when games were being played.  – Ashley Caba