Summer 2019

5 Minutes Read

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Description: Under the direct supervision of the Summer Bridge English faculty, English mentors will work with a group of 8-12 students to help them better understand the writing process and provide feedback to improve their writing. English mentors promote independent learning and act as academic mentors and role models. English mentors must be prepared to complete 4-5 hours of training prior to the start of the EOP Summer Bridge Program.

After my time as an SI leader ended at the end of my Sophomore year (I was going to study abroad in South Korea so I couldn’t come back to that position in my Junior year of college), I was invited to work as an English Writing Mentor as part of the English component in the Educational Opportunity Program’s Summer Bridge Program. A little about the Summer Bridge program, EOP freshmen students who got accepted are invited to a mandatory 12-day program at CSU, Chico where they get a taste of what college is potentially like. So they have a packed schedule from 7:00 AM – 5:00PM/6:00 PM. English is one of the components they have to go to during the duration of Summer Bridge. I had to go through it when I was a freshman as well. So, if you think about it, the students we are assigned are fresh out of high school, as they just recently graduated like 3-5 days ago when the first day of Summer Bridge started. I know that was true in some cases for some of the people I met in my freshmen year.

Kim Jaxon and I first met when I came in as a freshman back in Summer Bridge 2017 and she was also my English professor I had in Spring 2018 as well. So, she’s familiar with me and the work I’ve put in since the start of my college career. Kim is a straight G (gangsta), super duper down to earth, empathetic but also takes no bullshit from students who are slacking. She has had a huge influence on me and my development in writing and falling in love with the pursuit of education. One funny thing that is always happening whenever Kim sees me is that she tries to convince me to switch majors from a History major to an English major. And as I am writing this in December of 2021, she has not stopped since 2017. Maybe she’ll stop once I graduate lol. She only slowed down on the frequency of asking me to switch when I finally picked up a Creative Writing minor back in the Fall of 2020. Thank you Kim for believing in me and pushing me to be better. Kim needed a few more students to fill in the position and she sent me an email and boom, I was on the team.

I have been blessed to have great students and this time it wasn’t any different. I remember my students were kinda shy on the first day but we had to share out the narrative paper they wrote before coming to Summer Bridge and seeing that they were a bit hesitant to share, I went ahead and shared my story first. There is this thing I learned from a mentor of mine about when it comes to sharing stories. “Share your scars but not your wounds. Your scars have healed and you are sharing it won’t reopen it. However, your wounds, are fresh and can be deepened even further, so it is not good to share your wounds. Wait until they are scars to share.” So, I shared my scars with my students and I believe that was when they were comfortable opening up to me and to each other. I feel like that set the tone and comfort level for my students and me. We became close and it felt really nice considering I was only with them for 1 hour and 30 minutes – 2 hours with them each day.

And for two years in a row with my summer jobs, I was pushed and coaxed into giving another spoken word performance to students. Kim asked me a few days before the last day we met up with the students if I wanted to give a spoken word performance on the last day. I initially said “No.” but after a few more encouragement from Kim and my coworkers, I ended up saying “Yes.” So, I gave my “Represent Represent” piece a few small revisions, and then on the last day with the students, I performed it for them. The reason why I decided to go with this piece was because I wanted the students to understand that coming to college and especially being in the EOP program, they will and are representing many things. They will represent their hometown, their ethnicity, their culture, their family, Chico State, and most importantly, they will represent EOP. So when they shine, the whole program shines. At the same time, I wanted to give them a real talk about how college is not for everyone as it will test them greatly in all capacities in life.

Overall, this experience was very fun and welcoming to have before I head into my Junior year studying abroad in Seoul, South Korea for Fall 2019. I improved even more with my interpersonal and intrapersonal skills with even better group management skills. Also, I was able to perform spoken word again in front of a huge audience (IMO) and that is always fun.