Bridge at UCLA

Bridge at UCLA is a workshop and mentorship based program that aims to bridge educational gaps for underprivileged high school students. Through our research on current educational support efforts, we discovered a generational gap between established programs and the high school students they serve. Although these efforts are still impactful, the support is not as relevant to the current day academic and career atmosphere, and the connection between mentors and mentees is less meaningful. This inspired us to create a university based program that runs off current students that have relevant experience in these areas. Bridge at UCLA aims to increase graduation rates through a mentorship program between collegiate students (at UCLA) and low-income students between the 10-12 grade range in local public schools. Our intent strays from increasing application turnout; instead, focusing on building strong professional skills to demonstrate career paths stemming from a high school diploma. As undergraduates with firsthand experience within higher education and the job market, our initiative is unique and relevant to high schools. On campus, we will recruit students through club fairs and departmental advertisements. We will search for students who are motivated to help youth, and train them to lead workshops and become one-on-one mentors. The workshops will be focused on a 5 stage curriculum of skill building, as outlined in the presented Journey Map, including: resumes, interviewing, college advising, scholarship opportunities, and academic tutoring. However, a major aspect of this program will be its emphasis on existing opportunities that are available to students looking to join the workforce, utilizing skillful development from our program. The mentorship program fosters meaningful connections between volunteers and students to provide personalized support for creating a future pathway, with emphasis on empowerment and student-led connection during the program. Thus, rather than serving several students at once per mentor, we will cater the experience to be more individualized and direct. We will approach this initiative by partnering with schools in LAUSD, specifically those in low-income regions. This will personalize our approach to the schools because we will better understand what the students need, learning from both staff and students.

bridge.ucla@gmail.com

Signatories: Maher Salha, Nicholas Sharifi, and Katherine Brezoczky

Advisor: Melissa L Veluz-Abraham