Life of a Fellow: Yamel

Meet Yamel, a Fellow at Eastside High! As an Alumni at Woodrow Wilson High (now Eastside High), Yamel is back this year at her alma mater as part of the 12+ team!

Personal statement

Working with the students on their personal statements has been both gratifying and challenging. One of the things that made the process of helping the students with their personal statements gratifying is to be able to know them better by reading a little bit about their journey through life. Also, to see their face full of happiness after they finish writing their statement. I personally feel so glad to be available to help them with such an important task. 

Recommendation Letter

I know and understand how important it is to have letters of recommendation ready when applying to any academic program. I always try to remind and encourage every student about asking for letters of recommendation from their teachers, counselors and employers if applicable. In addition, I always try to remind the students about how essential it is for them to ask their teachers for letters of recommendation with anticipation and to not procrastinate with that because there can be deadlines for the submission of it. Also,  it can take time for the teachers, counselors, or employers to write a recommendation letter to them because there might be other individuals for which they will also have to write recommendation letters. Another thing that I make sure they are aware of is that they will not be the only students asking for letters of recommendation.

College Fairs

Going to college fairs and helping students to look for colleges/universities that could be the right fit for them was something fantastic for me. One college fair we visited with students was hosted by Rowan University at the Glassboro campus. Going to Rowan’s college fair was fantastic because I was able to support the bilingual students by translating for them and other students by encouraging them to ask questions that could be essential to ask during the college fair. For example, I reminded students to  ask about the location of the university/college or program, the cost, and the majors each institution offers. For those who are undocumented immigrants, I prompt students to also ask about what services the institutions offer to students with the same immigration status.

Besides going to the fair at Rowan University I also had the pleasure of going to “Latino Visitation Day” at Stockton University. I think that it was an incredible experience to go to such a wonderful event which provided students with essential information about the career programs offered by the institution, among other things. During the “Latino Visitation Day,” a staff member gave a tour of the campus to the high school students that were present at the event. The students were able to see the dorms and to ask questions about the rules and policy of the University for those who were interested in living on campus.

College Info Sessions

The most memorable session for me so far was the college information session that Kean University had at Eastside high school, formerly known as Woodrow Wilson high school. The information session was about the “SUPERA-Spanish Speaking Program” for individuals that speak little or no English. I liked this information session in particular because it was very informative, and it showed a path for students that are not proficient in the English language.

9th Grade Mentorship

This academic year I have made my goal to connect with as many students as possible including the 9th graders. It has not been easy to connect with students that are not seniors since they do not usually go to the 12+ center even though they are always encouraged to visit. One of the goals that our team had was to start building new connections with 9th graders by going to the classrooms and talking to them about the things that we do in the center and what are some of the things that they could possibly be doing in their journey throughout high school. Something that I would like to add is that creating new connections with 9th graders was possible and easier with the support of the bilingual staff members at Eastside high school. For example, my twin sister and I had the opportunity to talk and make connections with the bilingual students in the class of Mr. Dugue (Bilingual staff member from Eastside high school).

To conclude, having the opportunity to help students with their personal statement, the process of applying to college, trade school, FAFSA, and the common application have been great. I love to be able to give back to my community and what better way than to help students from the high school (Woodrow Wilson/Eastside High School) that I graduated from in 2015. Some other things that I help students with are the process of applications, providing information about different educational pathways, communicating and translating for students that speak little or no English.