SAEP TAs

Summer Academic Enrichment Program

MSTI Testimonials

2013-2014

“The words that Dr. Rivas would gave us during the orientation hours, "help before you are asked", have never left. And as a student lab assistant, those words have lived on whenever there are fellow students who, from time to time, struggle. It happens to the best of us and I have enjoyed doing my part in helping where I can.

Working as a TA has given me many great experiences that only come with teaching. I look forward for another summer!”

-Alex Resendiz - alex.resendiz.739@my.csun.edu

“As far as my experience as a TA for the SAEP program, I felt that having the opportunity to work with middle school students and assisting them in Mathematics has provided me with the opportunity to gain more experience in my field as I am currently pursuing my career in teaching. I find this experience beneficial based on the idea on how I not only gain the experience in mentoring the students, but also allowing me to learn creative ways of teaching that will help enhance student learning. I found this experience to be a fun and interactive, which I hope to be part of once again.”

-Andrea Manzo Ustariz - andrea.manzoustariz.756@my.csun.edu

“My name is Ivana Velez and I was a MSTI TA in the summer of 2013. I personally had a wonderful time working with the SAEP program and am actually now a tutor as a MSTI scholar once again. Working with SAEP has further influenced my interest in pursuing a career as a science teacher. I gained experience working one on one with students and because of that, I feel more comfortable taking initiative in the classroom with my current job. I am planning to take a summer class this year but if my schedule allows, I would love to come back as a TA with SAEP.”

-Ivana Velez - Ivana.velez.843@my.csun.edu

“Being a TA for SAEP was a very fun and interactive experience because as a club we got to teach young minds about our interest in robotics so that they can start their interest in robotics as early as possible. SEAP has influenced me to get a better understanding of my electrical classes so that I teach better in this coming summer because I was asked to help out in our electrical portion of robotics.”

-Garrison Tran - garrison.tran.733@my.csun.edu

“I feel very fortunate to be given the opportunity to participate as a TA. I always enjoy working with the younger generations and continued to do so through another program with CSUN. I joined Building Connections for Success where I mentored a class of first generation freshmen, I stayed with them for about a year and a half and moved up in positions and became a peer lead. Currently I am applying to CSUNs Masters in Public Health Program for Fall 2015. I am graduating this May, and will be preparing for the MCAT. I am interested in medical schools that have the joint MD/MPH degrees. My interest in teaching definitely was established through MSTI exposure, however I have focused in on what that actually meant for me. I have realized I really enjoy taking a proactive approach to health and love learning and sharing information about preventative care. I'm currently working with MEND diabetes clinic, where are main goal is to see if diabetes education can help control diabetes (specifically A1C levels: cell glucose concentration) in current patients. I hope this email finds you well and once again thank you for help shaping my career goals.”

-Jennie Soniega-Sherwood - jennie.soniegasherwood.30@my.csun.edu

“Working as a TA for SAEP has taught me to appreciate the profession of teaching a lot more. So much goes into planning the curriculum and making sure the information you pass down gets across to the students. Due to the fact that we are teaching children, I get to experience the teacher’s perspective and look back to the times when I was a kid. And it is important that not only should one be learning, but it should be fun and enjoyable as well no matter what profession.

With graduation nearing and classes getting more challenging, I am studying harder and aspiring for perfects grades. SAEP always reminds me of how important children are to our future and that having fun should be a part of learning.”

-Pablo Diaz - pablo.diaz.819@my.csun.edu

“Working with SAEP influenced my career in many ways. First of all I like to thank Erin for good advice and support. Before I started working with SAEP I didn't want to be a high school teacher. After working with middle school kids I decided to go for secondary education. I completed my bachelor in applied mathematics last semester and I'm taking credential classes this semester.”

-Suresha Desilva - suresha.desilva.100@my.csun.edu

“My experience with the SAEP program turned out to be a major impact on my life now. I was able to establish some really strong friendships in such a short amount of time that I will continue to serve the program for all its done for me. My tutoring total has increased to 6 students in 2 semesters. I want to thank Erin for helping me get off the ground. I am doing great in my classes and at Red Lobster and have a totally different perspective on school and people in general.”

-Miguel Ramirez - miguel.ramirez.750@my.csun.edu

“… as for SAEP, it did not really change or shape my direction for a career goal. Rather, it enhanced it more. As a future teacher, I would like to create a fun and productive learning experience. Since I was a TA for a computer class, I was able to see students learn and be creative at the same time. Being part of SAEP was memorable.

I will remember the moment when I watched the guitar class perform Pompeii, and everyone in the room joined in to sing and encourage them, That is a moment that I would like to remember. I was able to see students get on stage and show off what they have learned without having to worry about what others may think. To see students coming together without any issues of race, discrimination, and etc. that is sometimes a fact of reality. (This came to mind because I am currently taking an Asian American Studies class).

Overall, it was a good experience and I am looking to be a part of SAEP once again as long as my schedule has no other conflicting things to do. Plus, meeting other TA's was nice, too. All of them seems to have the passion of a great teacher.”

-Brandon Sripimonwan - brandon.sripimonwan.110@my.csun.edu

“SAEP was a fantastic summer program to increase my social networking, Teaching skill, and drive to continue my outreach to others. I got to understand many different people and made new friends along the way. I even got to meet my old Spanish Teacher from High school which was a big surprise. Everyone was so kind and helpful that it felt like a big family because we just took care of each other without a second thought.

Being a TA/Teacher for the Robotics class showed me how hard teaching a new subject to kids can be. It took a lot of time and effort to think of a schedule of what we wanted the kids to get out of the course. It was a ton of work but it was totally worth it. Just seeing these young bright students understanding the concepts we taught them and putting those concepts into ideas to create a functioning robot is rewarding. The reactions of the kids make me smile because they are always excited when they finally get to see the robot move for the first time. It also fills me with pride each time they always ask more questions about robots or engineering in general because it gives me hope that they might pursue something in science.

It was a wonderful experience to work with you and all the other staff of SAEP. This program was really cool and a great opportunity for not only the kids but for me as well. At the end of the program i gave the teachers and everyone that put this whole program together credit because it wasn't easy. I never had the opportunity to do anything like this as a kid so i was glad. Currently i am using my experience with SAEP by teaching new members of our Vex Robotics club and other schools about robotics. just recently we taught an elementary school group about robotics by using the same teaching style we did over the summer.

SAEP is one the the best summer experiences I had and I am eager to do it again in the future.”

-Erin Kubo - erin.kubo.737@my.csun.edu

“First off I would like to say thank you for giving me the opportunity of taking part in the Summer Academic Enrichment Program as a Teacher Assistant. Just in case you are unfamiliar with who I am, I am a part of the VEX Robotics Club.

Introducing and teaching robotics to the children was an amazing experience. The way SAEP helped me was in developing my teaching and planning skills. When we were planning on what to teach the children, we had to brainstorm the content of our curriculum, as well as estimating how long the children would have to work on the robots. Every aspect needed to be carefully planned out, to allow the children to have fun and to ensure they would be able to complete their robots. When explaining some concepts to the children, sometimes I would have to rephrase my explanations or learn when to simplify them in order to get my message across. Also the Summer session allowed us to express our creative side, when creating and filming the game for the children to play. All great skills I am happy to have used when working with SEAP.

In the end, SAEP has provided me the experience of how it feel to hold a job and the responsibilities that come with it and working with children. The skills and knowledge I have gained from SAEP and its staff will help me in, hopefully, future teaching opportunities with SAEP and communicating/teaching other VEX Robotics Club members.”

-Edwyn Jocol - edwyn.jocolperez.129@my.csun.edu

“I really enjoyed this past summer working for SAEP as a teacher's assistant and mentor. It really taught me a lot about myself in regards to sharing my knowledge to someone who doesn't understand a concept. It also helped develop my communication skills and patience. It has also influenced me to be more disciplined and motivated. In the opportunity is available, maybe I could help out SAEP this summer.”

-Dillen De la Garza - dillen.delagarza.91@my.csun.edu

“Although I have tutored for a while but working as a TA in SAEP program encouraged me more than before to get my master degree and teach part-time beside my engineering job. We still have many kids that they are not familiar with STEM majors and fields and my personal goal is to do everything I can to make young kids familiar with as soon as possible; so they can easily find their interests and pursue their dreams.”

-Arman Tadrisi - atadrisi@yahoo.com

“I had a wonderful time working as a TA for SAEP. SAEP not only gave me an opportunity to gain some teaching experience, but also the much-needed boost of motivation to finish my credential program. Currently, I'm on my last semester of student teaching. If opportunity knocks, I would like to work with SAEP again.”

-Duc Nguyen - duc.nguyen.701@my.csun.edu

“Being a MSTI TA has helped shape my career by showing me new ways of trouble shooting. While I was teaching the students basics in robotics and helping them grow in terms of communication and teamwork, they also taught me how to look at problems in a different perspective. Working with SAEP was a great experience, due to having been part of multiple classrooms. I got introduced to a lot of new and great people, and got to form memories with everyone. SAEP as a whole was a great opportunity for me and an enjoyable one!”

-Cesar Gonzales - cesar.gonzales.404@my.csun.edu

“…once again I have to say thank you guys for the opportunity to work with the kids in teaching the robotics classes. Speaking on behalf of my own experiences, I would have to say that I take a lot of pride in teaching and take the work very personally. I was a student during the peak of the controversies of the LAUSD failing school system. Looking back as an adult, I know that I was one of the many students that "fell through the cracks". As a kid I was curious about learning but I hated school, and I never had access to any type of program like SAEP or Project Grad. This is why I feel that I have the responsibility to be part of a change in education. Not only to teach but to instill curiosity in young minds so that they want to learn. Hopefully in doing so I can help create a few more engineers.”

-Alex Davila - davila1345@gmail.com

“I've always wanted to become a math teacher since forever. SAEP was an experience that paved that path for me. I learned how teachers shape their lessons, how they changed their lessons based on how the class is doing (I was in Calc and PreCalc so the students needed to be challenged). I learned that teaching can be fun, and that it comes with lots of grading! SAEP has a great set of kids, I never saw a problem student. I saw collaboration in between the math teachers which helped them better their lessons and their exams. I saw that teamwork between the teachers, the TAs, and the people in the office helped the structure of the program and that with such a good structure, the program can succeed.”

-Angelica Morfin – angelica.morfin.487@my.csun.edu

“Working with SAEP was really a great experience. It helped me apply what I had learned over the years about building robots by teaching kids the basics. It also gave me the opportunity to expand upon my leadership skills by instructing the groups of kids that I was assigned to. I have learned a lot since then and am now applying some of the organization and communication techniques I learned then to certain situation that come up in my life. SAEP, for me was a good learning experience and was a fun way of applying what I know.”

-Nicholas Monson - nicholas.monson.476@my.csun.edu

“SAEP is a great program that helped me to further enhance my experience with working with children and further helped me to practice teaching. As a Mechanical Engineering, this brings the option of ever having to teach and share my ideas with others.”

-Daniel Lopez - daniel.lopez.405@my.csun.edu