Tag: #socialjustice

Post 3: The End of My Journey at the Bronx ASC

This summer truly flew by. It’s crazy to think that this is my last post and my last week at the Bronx Adolescent Skills Center as my journey comes to a close. After all of my experiences this summer, looking back on my first-day jitters and my journey to learning how to participate in an office setting makes me laugh. I knew I would learn a significant amount about the world of work as a mature adult by diving head-first into a professional office environment. As I expected, I came to understand the effect of the chain of command as well as what is appropriate dress and behavior in the office, but I also learned about the field of Psychology, my major, what a potential career would look like, and what my interests are within the field.

The artwork on the ASC wall painted by current students.

But I have discovered that, as much as the ASC is an office, it is equally a home–not only for the students, but for the staff as well. The staff and students uphold their roles as support systems for each other every day in the office. Though the relationship between the staff and students is professional, I would also say the relationship is that of a family. The duality of these relationships is what makes the ASC so incredible, especially in my eyes.

My perception of the students and staff at the ASC as a family has changed the perception of social justice work that I held at the beginning of this summer. I entered the ASC understanding the social injustice that exists in this world with a motivation to fight and raise awareness while remaining detached from its effects, but since working at the ASC, I view social justice through a completely different lens.

Just two days before my internship ended, I entered the ASC office to find one of the students that I have been counseling as a peer waiting to talk to me. My supervisor explained to me that today was his father’s birthday and that it marks eleven years since his father passed away. When I met with the student, he explained that his father was shot in an attempt to protect him from being taken away. He was only seven. The student walked me through his thoughts, feelings, and emotions on this day when he mentioned that his father left him a note. A few years prior to his death, the student’s father wrote him a letter to be opened when he is eighteen, and this year, on his father’s birthday, he is eighteen.

As I listened to the traumas of so many students my age, I began to understand on a personal level how unjust this world actually is. My perception of social justice has changed through shattering the invisible barrier that has sheltered me from the effects of injustice. This is why the work that I have done at the ASC this summer–providing educational and vocational opportunities to students in low-income areas–means so much to me: it has opened my eyes towards the power of social justice.

Artwork on the streets of the Bronx outside my office.

I am incredibly grateful to have spent my summer working alongside the very intelligent, caring, and giving people at the Bronx ASC, as well as working with the students who inspire me to be a better version of myself every day. I will never forget this summer and everything that I have learned.

Lauren Lindman ’22

Welcome to BridgeYear

The BridgeYear logo painted by one of our Co-Founders and me over many lunch breaks.
  • Stop by Home Depot for some blue paint
  • Develop metrics for a business plan proposal
  • Come to work in scrubs
  • Make the enrollment steps to the local community college easily digestible for students
  • Assemble IKEA furniture for the office
  • Update the team’s meeting agenda

It may look odd, but that’s how my to-do list reads on any given week this summer. I could’ve opted to write the responsibilities that were listed in my job description, but the truth is that wouldn’t come close to encompassing this out of the ordinary internship experience. The wide range of my day-to-day activities is the result of interning for a nonprofit startup in education, BridgeYear.  Bridge Year is the brainchild of two former college counselors, Victoria Chen and Victoria Doan,  who I’m delighted to call my mentors, and was founded in the summer of 2016 in Houston, Texas.

BridgeYear started off as a community college transition program for first generation students from low-income communities. The goal was to battle the phenomenon known as summer melt, which “melts” away recent high school graduates’ plans to enroll in college the fall immediately after graduation. To decrease the rates of the phenomenon, BridgeYear provided support to students through near peer advisors -college interns like myself– that helped students matriculate into community college. While enrollment rates were doubled, as the summer progressed, BridgeYear realized there were things beyond summer melt affecting students’ futures. After recognizing that students in low-income communities also lack access to workforce opportunities, the program now immerses students in career simulations that expose them to high-growth careers and propels them toward economic mobility.

This is actually my second summer with BridgeYear, as I was part of the inaugural team back when this was only an idea. It was a life altering experience to establish a nonprofit from the ground up; an opportunity I wanted so desperately to repeat because I felt my work wasn’t done.

And so here I am. A few seasons have passed and my passion, purpose, and philosophies on education have only grown. I knew that round 2 of Continue reading “Welcome to BridgeYear”

Internships End, Careers Begin

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It is a part of the office. What I love the most about this place, aside from being stress-free, is that it is so colorful. It brings life and positivism into the room and its staff.

It is sad when something so special to you comes to an end, although, I knew sooner or later, my time would end in El Paso, Texas. Notwithstanding, I am so grateful for the incredible experience in a place where I never imagined I would ever venture to go to.

I keep remembering everything I did at Cinco Puntos Press (CPP) and I am shocked by all I was able to accomplish during my time there.

I kept organizing the e-books, it really was a big project that CPP had for me. It involved going one by one, making sure that every detail was correct. I had to start a few e-books from scratch, often it involved looking for the old files—sometimes they were nowhere to be found. It also led me to compile a list of the e-books that still needed some retouches from us and another column for missing files altogether.

In addition, I also created a metadata spreadsheet and it took quite some time. I needed to synthesize a lot of information about CPP’s books into this one spreadsheet. Even though, there were slots that I was not able to fill because I lacked the information, I tried my best to complete it as much as possible, since CPP still needed it.

These two big projects took most of my time, as the making of e-books is very time-consuming. None the less, I was more than happy to learn all these new skills as well as hone others. I do not think I ever used Excel as much as I did here at CPP. I got to do things in this internship that I had never done before, among them, I also corrected a catalogue, learn a little of creating newsletters, and met my new Bible aka. The Chicago Manual of Style (which I am still pending on purchasing).

Furthermore, what I most embraced about this internship is that I was included in every single one of their meetings and discussions. My opinion was much valued and that gave me a great sense of importance and belonging. Either if it was a story submitted for their consideration, or the final cover of Rani Patel in Full Effect, etc., they wanted my sincere opinion. I just loved their inclusivity. CPP not only preaches about inclusivity, as their main goal as a publishing company, they practice it—and very well indeed.

Mrs. Lee Byrd, said to me nearly the end of the internship, that they had not been around, as much time as they have wished, to teach me. However, I disagree, they were always there for me, but like the bird when they learn how to fly, you have to let them fall when they are trying, that is how they will learn. I think each and every single one at CPP, taught me something about flying and then I figured out the rest.

My internship did not conclude not without first having a great meal with the entire staff. I feel fortunate to have met them all. They are all colorful characters; people who have experienced a lot and are willing to share their knowledge with the younger generations. And just as the Hiatt Career Center always says, this was also a wonderful opportunity for me to “Network, network, network.”

I very much hope that I will get to see them next year, perhaps BookExpo in NYC? There are chances—chances for anything, even to keep networking and opening horizons. I learned from this experience that you should not limit yourself. Go out there and explore the world that is meant to be explored.

Santiago Montoya, ’19