After a 10 minute walk, they arrived. Past a levee that smells of sewage and the busy streets full of noise, students made a drastic transition to a peaceful campus full of opportunity. For many students the University of the Pacific is a school that hasn’t really piqued their interest because it’s located in Stockton. This realization by Pacific enabled them to make many efforts to try and interest students from the Stockton community. One effort is the Pacific Outreach for Youth Services and Education, Mentorship Day.
Pacific reached out to Stagg to participate in its first mentorship day held March 7. Biology teacher Elizabeth Lewis made sure that students would participate in this event. “We wanted our students to see the college around them and the opportunities that exist. We also wanted them to experience the college environment and the benefits of mentors.”
Freshmen, sophomores, and many others were able to go and experience what Pacific is really like through their mentor, a current Pacific student. After registration, students found their mentors and welcomed their guest speakers. Van Duong, co-founder of POYSE and mentorship coordinator, talked about why they started this program. “We saw a big gap between the Stockton community and the people from UOP.”
Katerina Venderova, an assistant professor at Pacific, briefly spoke about the importance of an education. “Education gives you power, and it opens the door for the rest of the world.”
Likewise, Dean Phillip R. Oppenheimer, believes that education is a tool that allows students to build a foundation for their life. “There is no reason why a qualified student can’t come to Pacific. No matter what your financial situation is, we have programs for that,”he said.
The mentor/mentee conversations soon followed with questions. Sophomore Alejandro Cruz said, “It was very inspirational and informational, learning how college is from people who go to college.”
After getting to know their mentors, the students then broke off into three separate workshops. In the How to Succeed in College workshop, Kin Lam and Adaeze Oken talked about how to become a good student and prosper in a busy environment. Kin Lam gave advice and warnings he said, “The easiest thing to do in college: get behind.” Students realized how challenging college is.
Freshman Veronica Vargo said, “It made you realize how difficult college is compared to high school.” The mentors shaped their ideas on what to expect from college and the benefits of going. Overall, the students walked away with a different understanding of what college is about.
“We talked about real things,” said Patrisia Correa, a junior. “Some people are fake about it, (but) they gave us the real side of college.”
