Background
"Lift While You Lead" aims to connect undergraduate students at UC Merced with students at specific sites within the Merced Union High School District. The UC Merced students serve as mentors to high schoolers, all of whom are enrolled in the Role of Women in Society and U.S. History Class. The small group mentoring relationship provides mentors and mentees with support, guidance and encouragement – all with an emphasis on women and leadership.
The time has come for the network to grow, so that UC students and high school students will mentor students in middle school. Following the model that has already been established, the mentors will seek to provide the participants with the tools they need to break unhealthy patterns and cycles, in order to find success in their futures.
Ultimately, the goal is to emphasize the importance and support of women in leadership while encouraging others to be lifted, grow and develop in positive ways.
Purpose
A student created survey showed that 13 was the critical age for students in making choices that would have a long-term impact on their lives. On or about the age of 13, students began choosing to engage in one or more of the following behaviors: drug use, alcohol use, self-harm, negative body image or unprotected sex.
The basis of students’ choices was a sense of disconnect. For some, they recognized that their choices could lead to unhealthy consequences, but they did not realize they bore the power to break an unhealthy cycle. For others, they saw consequences, but lack of familial support. This program seeks to not only provide students with the tools, but also with the support they might otherwise be lacking.
"Lift While You Lead" aims to connect undergraduate students at UC Merced with students at specific sites within the Merced Union High School District. The UC Merced students serve as mentors to high schoolers, all of whom are enrolled in the Role of Women in Society and U.S. History Class. The small group mentoring relationship provides mentors and mentees with support, guidance and encouragement – all with an emphasis on women and leadership.
The time has come for the network to grow, so that UC students and high school students will mentor students in middle school. Following the model that has already been established, the mentors will seek to provide the participants with the tools they need to break unhealthy patterns and cycles, in order to find success in their futures.
Ultimately, the goal is to emphasize the importance and support of women in leadership while encouraging others to be lifted, grow and develop in positive ways.
Purpose
A student created survey showed that 13 was the critical age for students in making choices that would have a long-term impact on their lives. On or about the age of 13, students began choosing to engage in one or more of the following behaviors: drug use, alcohol use, self-harm, negative body image or unprotected sex.
The basis of students’ choices was a sense of disconnect. For some, they recognized that their choices could lead to unhealthy consequences, but they did not realize they bore the power to break an unhealthy cycle. For others, they saw consequences, but lack of familial support. This program seeks to not only provide students with the tools, but also with the support they might otherwise be lacking.
