HIGH SCHOOL LEAD INTERN

I was involved with The Dream Project for almost two years of my college career. The Dream Project is a program dedicated to supporting middle-school and high-school students in the Seattle area with their post-secondary education planning. During those two years, I worked exclusively with Foster High School in Tukwila, WA. I began as a Mentor and then worked my way to becoming a High School Lead Intern (HSL). I spent the majority of my experience as a High School Lead Intern at Foster High School. In my role, I became the lead mentor for all the UW mentors at Foster High School, I was the point-of-contact for our person at the school, and I was also a mentor during our visits. The overall experience gave me a lot of hands-on experience with working with others, specifically students. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with The Dream Project and still believe it was a pivotal experience in my college experience. I learned a lot about mentorship and found my passion for mentorship through the program.

I found that the most important aspect of my work was that I was supporting students like me. When I was in high school, I was completely lost with my post-secondary plans. Coming from immigrant parents and being an immigrant myself, I was not well informed about the process of applying to colleges or even taking the SAT. A lot of the work I did in my high school was very independent and I had to Google search my way through it. As a High School Lead Intern and a Mentor, I was assuming the role that I wish I had when I was going through the planning period before I graduated high school. I knew I wanted to be a Mentor that is kind, patient, and accepting of all my mentees. It made me open my eyes up to the mentorship relationships I wanted to have with all my mentees and be as open as I can in my role. As a leader in this program, I knew I wanted to set an example for my mentees, but also admit that I am not perfect, but I am willing to continue to better myself to be a great mentor for them.

Nonverbal Communication

The Dream Project talked a lot about how we would communicate to the mentees when we are doing our school visits. A lot of it revolved around the language we use or the way we listen to our mentees. One important aspect we worked on was nonverbal communication and how we can build that trust through our actions. I found this to be very helpful when interacting with my mentees and it has helped me a lot with being a leader today. As a mentor/leader, I want to make sure that my body language is engaging and indicating to whoever I am talking to that my attention is on them.

Helping/Supporting Others

A big part of my role within The Dream Project was making sure that I showed myself as a supporting role, rather than a helping role. I learned that I am not in a position where I know all and I am only here to teach my mentees what is correct. The Dream Project taught me that everyone is capable and can do anything they set their mind to. As a mentor/HSL within the program, I knew my mentees were well equipped to take on any challenge, I was only there to show them the resources available to them and encourage them to use the tools they already had. As a leader, I like keeping this mentality. I want the people I am working with to understand they can do anything; I am only acting as a support for their development.

Mentoring

The Dream Project was my first serious mentor role. Before entering the program, I was always a mentee and never really knew what it was like to be in the Mentor role. As a Mentor for students at Foster High School, I learned a lot about my mentoring style and how I wanted to approach all my mentorship experiences. In my role, I did a lot of trial and error with the way I acted as a mentor to figure out what style works best for me. In the end, I realized that I am a very involved but also hands-off mentor. As a mentor, I want to constantly be involved in my mentees' development and constantly encourage them, but also letting them know that I do not have their answers, I am only there to show them that they are capable of anything!

Empowerment

Like I mentioned in the overview, I wanted to be a mentor that I wish I had when I was in high school. This mindset truly fueled my motivation to work within The Dream Project. I knew that the high schoolers I would be mentoring are feeling lost and confused about their post-secondary plans. I was empowered to shower my mentees with resources, support, and tools so they leave the mentorship relationship knowing what they want to do after they graduate high school. Even after the mentorship relationship, I reminded my mentees to always keep in contact with me if they need any support after high school. I am empowered to go above and beyond as a mentor and a leader because I know the importance of having someone constantly on your side through lost times.

Power Dynamics

When I moved on from being a mentor to being a High School Lead intern, I had to shift my power dynamics and learn how to assume a promoted role. Being an HSL meant that the mentors I was working with are now the mentors I supervise throughout the quarter. I had to shift quickly and understand the responsibilities of my role. Outside of The Dream Project, I am a friend, but inside the program, I needed to realize that I was in a position of power. This heavily relates to me as a leader because I know later in life, leadership is going to be hard. I am a person that wants to be friends with everyone, but as a leader, I need to understand my power and the responsibilities I must uphold in my position.

Social Justice

The Dream Project would have weekly lectures where we are informed about the issues regarding our current society and how it is impacting our mentees. The program liked to focus on social justice issues that carry a lot of importance in the education system. I found this part of the lecture so interesting because of how it pertains to not only our mentees, but it also pertained to us as mentors. As a leader, I know I want to do the same, I want to address the social issues impacting me and the people around me. By being knowledgeable and staying informed about the pressing issues, we can better plan courses of action or languages we can use to better support our mentees and other communities around us.

Organization

Being the HSL for The Dream Project was my first major on-campus job. It was very eye-opening to me because I was taking on a lot more responsibilities than I am used to. I learned a lot about staying organized and keeping up with my deadlines when it came to assuming this role. During the Foster High School breakouts, I would have to create slides and talking points to address to my mentors. At the actual school visits, I would compile resources for the mentees I was talking to, as well as the mentors that might need support too. Organization was a key reason why I was able to have that work-and-school life balance.

Personal Contributions

Every week we would have a HSL meeting with the other HSLs from the other schools. During these meeting with the HSLs and The Dream Project professional staff, we would discuss best practices and topics that are relevant in our mentorship program such as educational equity. During these times, I would contribute my own experiences with mentorship and advocate for the mentees at my school. My personal contribution was able to expand the thinking of other HSLs as well as supporting The Dream Project.

The most important lesson I learned was how to become an effective mentor. This was the starting step for my passion for mentorship. The mentees I worked with helped with my discovery of my mentorship style and the mentors I worked with also helped me better understand my role. I gained more confidence in myself as a mentor as I continued my HSL internship for three quarters; each quarter, I learned how to mentor different types of mentees as well as gaining more experience with different situations. As a leader, this experience taught me a lot about how I want to treat others around me, especially when I am in a position of power like being a mentor. In the future, I hope to take what I learned at The Dream Project to continue to mentor others who are in the position I was in. I hope to continue to be involved in their development and show them that they already are capable of achieving anything.