My Typical Work Day
My project, Science in Our Community, is a collaboration between the College of Science and the Office of Service Learning. I coordinate the program to provide STEM students the opportunities to develop social responsibility and professional skills through community engagement.
In addition, as a VISTA I train and mentor STEM Ambassadors Leaders who facilitate workshops, create navigational tools, and coordinate social gatherings that foster a sense of community, academic excellence and career exploration. My typical work day includes recruiting students for this program, training the students for the upcoming events activities that they will be leading or participating in, and supervising the student volunteers and student assistants. I work with my supervisor and community partners in my day-to-day work in order to organize different k-12 events.
Why I Serve with CSU STEM VISTA
My motivation to serve with the CSU STEM VISTA program was the Stanislaus County community which is a very diverse population, where English is the second or third language for most.
Most of our community participants are underserved or underrepresented, and a large percent of our students are first generation students. As someone who grew up in this region, I wanted to give back to that community. I wanted to share the tools and knowledge that I have gained to help the newer generation be even more prepared and successful to attend a university. I wanted to inform the students about the tools and resources that they can use once they get to college, so they can better navigate through their University career.