College For Every Student
Ashley Bairos, 2010
This J-Term I completed an internship with College For Every Student (CFES), an educational organization just down the road in Cornwall, VT. In the spring of 2008 I proposed a type of e-mentoring program with the hope of connecting more college students with more high school students in urban areas. By utilizing the Internet, my hope was to foster a greater desire within high school students to take hold of their own education. I shared this idea with Rick Dalton of CFES and an internship was born.
Over the course of January I was charged with the task of arranging and initiating an e-mentoring program in two schools: a middle school in Harlem, NY and a high school in Moriah, NY. 15 students were chosen from the school in Harlem and partnered with a Middlebury student mentor. Each pairs corresponded via the Internet and on various checks throughout the term, all contact was reported as going well. With the Moriah school, 5 students were paired with Middlebury mentors to correspond via the Internet as well as face-to-face meetings. Unfortunately, as things ended up, the Moriah group was only able to meet once with their mentors, but Internet correspondence continued on a repeated basis. Each week I would talk with my contacts at each school to make sure things were running smoothly on their end and check in with the Middlebury mentors as to the progress of email contact. Occasionally, the Middlebury students would ask my advice on acceptable conversation topics, especially with the middle schoolers from NYC.
This internship was an extremely rewarding experience, but also posed many challenges. In dealing with people from afar there was often an issue with getting in touch with my contacts at each school. We also encountered technical difficulties with email accounts from the children at each school, which set the start date back a couple weeks. Emails could not be received because of IT restrictions, but once the problem was eradicated, emails were begun immediately and continued on a regular basis. Despite the late start, things improved as the children learned about their mentors and engaged in conversations from sports to career aspirations. I have read some of the emails sent from the students at MS45 in Harlem and can see first hand how appreciative these 7th and 8th graders are to know that people far away care enough to contact them [some letters have been included]. It’s letters like these that make this project and everyone’s hard work worth all the struggles.
I have always been intrigued by America’s education system. I had a tremendous high school experience that dramatically changed the way I felt about my own education. This is the type of reaction I hope to help foster in others; to take command of their education for the pursuit of self-improvement. In addition to general interest, I wanted to use this J-Term assignment as a way to challenge myself and do something that I have never done before. I was thrown into this project, not really what was going to happen or how I was to achieve success. Perhaps discovering the project along the way was one of the most rewarding aspects of the project because it felt good to finally get it right. In addition, not having a regular schedule was difficult for me because it forced me to regulate myself and stay on top of my responsibilities. The internship was a nice preview into the real world and what the working environment will feel like after graduation from Middlebury. I felt depended on and I enjoyed having a different set of responsibilities if even just for a month.
My internship experience was wonderful and I have no regrets about accepting the challenge to try something completely different. Despite several hardships along the way, the experience has enriched my education and taught me much about my own work ethic and creativity. I had a great time working with Rick and his staff and would do it again in a heartbeat. The achievements of CFES are so amazing and innovative and I feel blessed to have worked with them and learned so much during my J-Term experience.
Please contact the Career Services Office for more information on this internship.