Take Tang, a 22-year-old from Carmel Valley who always wanted a real college experience: After graduating from Winston School, a Del Mar school for students in grades 6-12 that offers nontraditional options, Tang (with her parents’ guidance) spent the past few years trying to fit in some online classes here and there.
Aspiring Scholars, on the other hand, offers her the opportunity to experience college with a face-to-face, comprehensive approach: The two classes she is taking are General Education 101 (required) and Theatre Arts (elective), and she has also joined the drama club and auditioned for roles in plays.
“I want to be an artist one day,” Tan said. “I like to draw.”
In sending Tammy to CSUSM, her parents were comforted by a particularly important aspect of the program: Aspiring Scholars has about a dozen peer mentors who support the four students in their day-to-day lives. Some have signed up to fill service-learning hours, others choose to volunteer. Some are assigned to specific students, while others work with multiple students at any given time.
But everyone got something valuable out of the experience. Gabriela Nunez, a junior psychology major, needed service-study hours and heard about the program from one of her professors. She reached out to Brooks last fall, who introduced her to Tan. The two hit it off immediately, bonding over a shared love of pizza and Katy Perry.
“This is a really good program,” said Nunez, who plans to earn a master’s degree in school psychology. “In my field, I’m required to take courses on helping people with intellectual and physical disabilities, so if I want to go in that direction, this is a good start.”
Meanwhile, Tan’s parents received the gift of peace of mind.
“From our perspective, this program has been very helpful because of the support we get from our peer mentors,” says Steven Tan, Tammy’s father. “We were looking for a program for Tammy, but we still weren’t sure if she would be able to be independent just getting around campus, so we had to make plans to go with her. Having someone who works closely with her, mentors her, and helps her with her homework really allows us to relax and just get to work without worrying about what’s going on.”
Brooks said Aspiring Scholars’ first year has exceeded her expectations, thanks in large part to the support she’s received from faculty and staff across campus. She expects student enrollment to remain at roughly the same level in year two, but plans to apply for additional funding to help make the program self-sustaining and more sustainable.
“I’m excited to watch it grow,” Brooks said, “and as students take courses, I look forward to expanding the cohort of students, getting more peer mentors, and being able to work with more professors across campus.”
If you would like to learn more about the Aspiring Scholars program or apply, please contact Director Rebecca Brooks at [email protected].
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