Fall 2020 – June 2023
20 Minutes Read
Description: Works with students participating in the EOP First-Year Experience program. Duties include working with a core group of students; advising on GE requirements, course scheduling, and disseminating information and basic knowledge of university policy and procedures; maintaining accurate records of student contact and academic progress; planning programs; and completing end-of-semester student file summaries. The Paraprofessional Advisor must possess the ability to work with minimal supervision and pay close attention to detail. Additionally, in cooperation with a staff member, paraprofessionals may develop and facilitate workshops.
DUTIES INCLUDE, but are not limited to the following:
– Assist in academic advising for first-year freshman students (Parapro)
– Assist in facilitating workshops
– Actively participate in all training and weekly staff meetings
– Refer students to services for any problem identified during contact
– Distribute and follow up on mid-semester progress evaluations
– Participate in student panels and presentations to large groups
– Facilitate or assist in planning large group activities
– Able to work flexible hours, including some required evenings and weekends
– Other duties as prescribed by your immediate supervisor
Year 1: 2020 – 2021
My Junior year was very eventful with plenty of growing pains and lessons learned. Entering my Senior year of college, I applied and got hired as a Paraprofessional Advisor for the Educational Opportunity Program. Before I go any further, just know that I have so much to say about this job. It’s probably gonna be a very long one. This is a position on campus that I always wanted after my Freshmen year of college because I had discovered that I really enjoy working in student mentor roles and supporting other students from similar backgrounds as me. Also, I want to give back to the program that helped supported, and shaped me during my college career. I felt confident when I had the interview for this position, mainly because I felt that my resume was strong and I also did very well answering the questions that were being asked to me. This job came with many responsibilities and also many components that I was looking forward to participating in.
One such component is the EOP Summer Bridge program, which is a transition program for invited EOP first-time freshmen. The program is designed to help students acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to build a bridge from high school to a successful college experience. While at Summer Bridge, the freshmen meet with mentors, experience university lectures, and attend a variety of workshops and presentations. Summer Bridge also is an opportunity for EOP participants to meet each other and the faculty and staff who will be assisting students in the fall. During Summer Bridge, freshmen will be able to finalize housing plans, complete financial aid files, and register for fall semester courses. Students will also attend workshops to help with their transition to the University.
Because I had come in as an EOP student and went through Summer Bridge, I wanted to experience that again but in a role where I would be able to help other students and begin building connections and relationships with the students prior to the academic year starting to accelerate the trust and familiarity between my students and me. Unfortunately, due to covid, I was never able to experience the Summer Bridge program in person as a paraprofessional advisor. We did have Summer Bridge virtually for the academic years of 2020-21 and 2021-22. Which, I think the EOP advisors did a great job at facilitating and having great advisors coming into Zoom and sharing about the resources on campus the students can use virtually to support them throughout the year.
This job has been a very good and positive experience so far and I hope it continues to be that way. My first year working in this position was very new and different because this was the year Covid-19 hit the U.S. and made many universities around the country transition from in-person learning to online. This also affected the EOP office in the same fashion as we converted our operations to online. This meant that for a whole academic year, I would be advising students via Zoom and online interactions only. After saying that, you could just imagine how difficult and how many questions came up in terms of how we as paraprofessional advisors would be effective support systems for our students.
Personally, I felt like my learning curve was a bit big in my first year in the position because I had to balance both a work mode and a school mode. Since we as parapros worked from home and used two laptops, it was very easy for me to just transition from school to work. However, transitioning from work to school was difficult because if I had an email come in, even during the times I was not scheduled to be working, I would work during those off hours. Which, I’m not getting paid for so why would I do that? I knew how scary and difficult it must be for our EOP students who come from a disadvantage compared to other students who aren’t first-generation, historically low-income, and have marginalized communities in their first year of college, and on top of that, it is virtual and the is a global pandemic still happening. So, I overworked myself in being as available to my students as possible because if there was one thing I wanted to say and be proud of myself for at the end of my first year working for EOP as a paraprofessional advisor is that, I was not going to be the reason why a student of mine failed. If I did everything within my abilities without overstepping my boundaries and my student was not able to be successful academically in our program, at least I can wash my hands and be content that I did all I could, and I can accept those results.
Year 2: 2021 – 2022
Now we are on to my fifth year of college. With that, I decided to accept EOP’s offer to be a returner and continue as a Paraprofessional Advisor. I was one of two returners coming back in the position. I still love the job and I felt like I haven’t gotten everything I wanted out of the job yet. The client group I had from my first year in the position are now sophomores so that meant I was no longer directly advising them. We had a new incoming EOP Freshmen cohort so it meant I will have a new client group. I was given a smaller amount of client group compared to my first year. I was also tasked with supporting my co-workers in their client groups. Whatever questions my colleagues had, they knew they can reach out to ask me. I was there to support both my client group and my colleagues.
With a smaller client group, it allowed me to focus more on each of my students. I remembered more about the details and little things they would share with me during our meetings. It felt very nice to do that because I felt the connection was developed quicker which made them want to meet with me more. Also, this was the first time that we were allowed to have in-person meetings because the university allowed students to come back to have in-person courses in a hybrid situation. Some of my students still met with me virtually as that was still an option in case they were uncomfortable being in person due to covid or just weren’t able to come in physically. The energy and connections I made with my students were so much better in person compared to my first year via Zoom.
When Spring 2022 rolled around, I began to feel the creeping feeling of being comfortable. I realized that I had become too good at my job, and I was scared I might become bored with it. I became really good at understanding the university’s policies in terms of grades, GPA, enrolling in courses, withdrawing from courses, and nearly all academic-related questions students had about their student center and degree progress report. Whatever academic plans my students wanted to implement or head towards, I had that on lock ready to help them get to where they wanted to go. With me becoming too good at my job, I wonder if I should come back to the position for a third time in the last year of my undergraduate career.
In my second year of this position as an EOP Paraprofessional Advisor, I continue to have amazing students I get to work with. These students are very impressive, and that is putting it lightly. The resilience they displayed throughout the academic year is something I will always remember. They came to college after spending part of their high school experience virtual and feeling douts of not being prepared for college and not being “college-ready.” It felt very rewarding to see the confidence these students began to accumulate as the academic year progressed and they found success in their spaces. I know that the success will continue to grow for them and I am excited to see where the future leads them.
Year 3: 2022 – 2023
EOP asked me to come back to the position as Lead Paraprofessional Advisor since I was the only returner who would be back with two years of experience. Although it sounds like a fancy title, it didn’t mean anything really. I was still paid the same as the rest of my colleagues and worked the same hours. I basically did the same thing I did last year but with a bigger client group and assisting my colleagues. I decided to come back because if this is the type of work I want to do after I graduate, I should not shy away from this and feel like I’m bored or tired of it after two years. I was determined to figure out how much I enjoyed mentoring and advising students. I would’ve just preferred if they wanted me back and didn’t apply any title to it. Coming into this position, it was also the first year we were able to have EOP’s Summer Bridge Program in person on campus since the Covid pandemic.
The last in-person Summer Bridge Program that EOP did was in 2019. Since 2019, the EOP office at Chico State has undergone a huge staff turnover. The team is really new, and most of the staff members are in their second year or first year in the EOP office. My previous boss also accepted a new position at UC Davis during this time, and he was the most senior member of the EOP staff aside from the Associate Director. What I’m trying to say is that Summer Bridge 2022 was the first time this new EOP staff team did it together. But what is Summer Bridge? Instead of explaining what it is, I’ll just go ahead and paste what is written on the EOP website.
The EOP Summer Bridge program is a transition program for invited EOP first-time freshmen. The program is designed to help students acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to build a bridge from high school to a successful college experience. While at Summer Bridge, the freshmen meet with mentors, experience university lectures, and attend a variety of workshops and presentations. Summer Bridge also is an opportunity for EOP participants to meet each other and the faculty and staff who will be assisting students in the fall. During Summer Bridge, freshmen will be able to finalize housing plans, complete financial aid files, and register for fall semester courses. Students will also attend workshops to help with their transition to the University.
The previous two years I’ve worked as a Paraprofessional Advisor, and we’ve had to conduct Summer Bridge online via Zoom. Summer Bridge is one of the best times for Paraprofessional Advisors to connect and develop bonds with their potential client groups so that when the academic year starts, students are already familiar and somewhat comfortable with their assigned parapro from the interactions they’ve had at Summer Bridge. Summer Bridge 2023 was very fun but it also presented a lot of challenges where you can see the inexperience of the staff come out. I do not hold animosity towards the EOP staff as it is their first time doing Summer Bridge in person again. I expected it to be a stressful job as all the Paraprofessionals worked as Resident Advisors during Summer Bridge. That meant we would be living with the students in the dorms and be on call 24/7. You would go to sleep around midnight and wake up around 5/6 AM to prepare for your wing meeting.
Your whole day would be packed from 7:00 AM until 8:00 PM. Highkey, the job of being an RA for Summer Bridge is an underpaid position. For the amount of work and bs that we had to deal with, the position does not pay enough. It’s a good amount of money for two weeks of work but man, it hits differently knowing that I put in more work compared to a few of my colleagues on the team. This was supposed to be a seven-person team but the majority of the time it felt like a 4-5 person team instead. Two of my colleagues were not pulling their weight and that severely stressed out and hindered the ability of the rest of the team. I think what didn’t help too was that the two colleagues that didn’t carry their weight were the favorites of the EOP staff. I think that irked me more than anything. I don’t mind favoritism, that’s to be expected, but if you’re going to play favorites, be subtle about it and favorite someone who will actually get their responsibilities and tasks done.
Summer Bridge builds character for everyone involved. Everyone comes out of Summer Bridge a stronger and more prepared individual for the upcoming academic year. Summer Bridge is filled with more positives than negatives but I would not recommend anyone to work this job of being an RA for Summer Bridge more than once. It is extremely draining and I do not believe most people’s sanity can endure it more than once. I didn’t feel quite as sad when Summer Bridge ended because I knew that I’ll see them a few months later when they come back when the academic year starts. Shout out to my colleagues that did their thing and kept us going during the tough times. You know who you are. I would not have made it through Summer Bridge without yall.
With Summer Bridge done, let’s talk about the actual academic year. I have to admit that this was my favorite client group out of the three years I worked this job. A huge reason is because of Summer Bridge, the bonds I already made with some of the people in my client group made it so much easier to connect and assist the students. Something cool about this client group too was that I had a few students who had majors that I haven’t advised before. That presented a new and fun challenge for me when it came to course selections and figuring out what would be the best route for what the student wanted. You know who you are lol. You kept me on my toes and it was always fun seeing you in the office. I had a great group of students that were academically driven and got involved early on campus. Their growth was quick and I was very impressed.
Honestly, being an EOP Parapro is such an emotional rollercoaster. You never know what you’re gonna get with the student coming in. But with every interaction I had with my past students and from this year, I am beyond grateful. It taught me a lot about myself and I learned a lot from my students too. One of the hardest parts about this job is when you weren’t successful in helping a student. Whether it is from them failing a course or deciding to withdraw from the university, it was hard to take that in. Because I would ask myself “Did I do enough?” And sometimes I try as much as I can and the result still wouldn’t be what I want.
Accepting we did all we can and being okay with that was very difficult. As much as I want the students to succeed and do well if they did not meet me halfway, I couldn’t fully help them. I had a lot of great students that made my job easy to manage and relieved a lot of stress. But whenever my students were stressed or in pain, I felt that too. I just hope that in some way, I was able to be a positive impact and influence on these students. They are amazing and they also motivated me throughout this year too. It’s sad this experience is ending because I know this will forever be something I will cherish for the rest of my days.
June 2023 – EOP Summer Bridge 2023 – Head Resident Advisor
Just as I thought my time working for the EOP Program had come to an end, I was offered to come back and work for them as Head Resident Advisor for their Summer Bridge Program. I was offered the position back in late March/early April. Honestly, I was hesitant from accepting the position. The trauma I endured from Summer Bridge 2022 still haunted me a little bit. I remember when I got done with Summer Bridge in 2022 I went home and was knocked out due to exhaustion. And then I took the next few just staying home and recovering. I would be going in with a new team that I did not know I could rely upon. I did not want to experience the same bs I endured last time where one-two colleague didn’t pull their weight.
I ended up accepting the position because of two reasons. The first reason is that I love this program and I want Summer Bridge to be a success for this next incoming EOP freshmen cohort. I know that I can get the job done and have it job the right way. I am the best person for the job and I’m not afraid to admit that. If I didn’t love this program and helping students, I would not have accepted this position. I already know it is underpaid and the potential for me to gain more money for being Head RA was very slim. The second reason is that I’ve always wanted to run and manage my own team. Even if I’m only semi in-charge of this team, this is still my team. Not many college graduates get the opportunity to manage their own team so quickly after graduating.
Going into this position, I kept more of an open mind and let things slide off of me. I didn’t let something that was unpleasant affect me as much this time around. If something didn’t go as planned, I just brushed it off. It helped my mind a lot to stay level-headed and sane during Summer Bridge. I was there to support the next team of Paraprofessionals but also I was assigned a group of students. I was assigned to the fifth floor of Estom Jamani Hall (formerly known as Sutter Hall), which is the top floor, and last year I was assigned to the third floor. I had a good team this year for Summer Bridge. For the most part, everyone did their job. A few of my colleagues slacked off here and there but it was still way better than last year. The only big concern I had throughout was that my team was not cohesive in agreeing to policies or ideas we had agreed upon to put in place and actually back up each RA’s floors. It felt divided and that caused problems throughout the program’s duration.
I dislike bashing on the partners and other departments we work with during Summer Bridge but I believe in transparency and letting others know how things are. Housing both years for Summer Bridge was ass and I’m putting it lightly. Numerous rooms had issues that should have been resolved or not even inspected. In both years, I had students who could not get into their rooms on the first few nights because they were issued the incorrect room key. Some rooms were still in winter setting so it blasted warm air instead of cool air. Keep in mind that it is during the summer and it is constantly high 90s and 100s outside as well. A few of my students had rooms where their room lights did not turn off so they had to sleep with it on. Essentially, housing just needs to get its shit together. There is a limit to encountering small inconveniences and then seeing that someone is incompetent in their job. After witnessing this twice in a row, I think it is the latter.
The program is only six/seven days but it is jam pack and everyone is busy. The job is both extremely exhausting and draining, that’s just the truth. But what makes it worth it are the connections and interactions I had with the students. Making sure the students are safe, comfortable, and having a positive experience was what mattered to me. It didn’t matter how I felt, I put the students first because I was in their exact same shoes and situation six years ago. They must have a glimmer of hope and reassurance that by the end of Summer Bridge, they can feel like they will succeed here at Chico State in the Fall semester. I know that whoever they go, they will do great, I just know it.
It is my last job working for EOP at Chico State, well at least for a while. I don’t know when I’ll have the opportunity to come back and work for this office. It is a bittersweet feeling. I cried a lot at the end of Summer Bridge knowing that this was it and that I probably won’t ever see these students again. I gave this program everything I had, took on more than I was supposed to, and still did a great job. I’m thankful for everything I learned and experienced from working with this office.
Hello, I would appreciate it if you would give me feedback on what you enjoyed and what you didn’t. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to comment or email me too! Thank you.
MX Creations Blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.