#excelbeyondthebell

Last week, I met with the Vice President of Youth Development for the YMCA, Karen Fagerberg, to pick her brain and to talk about the possibility of me visiting a YMCA summer camp site. I learned that there are 10 different camp sites running this summer for the San Antonio YMCA of all sizes and locations; there are camps run out of churches, parks, and schools and even one at Morgan’s Wonderland. Camps focus either on physical activity or education, or both. This summer, I am working for a YMCA camp hosted out of a local school, Hawthorne Academy, called “Power Scholars” which is one of the programs that combines physical activity and academics. The YMCA camps currently serve elementary school students and some middle school students, but Karen is looking to expand to have even more opportunities for middle schoolers. She said that at specific gyms around town they have camps that are more site run and that are not full day camps. Those are more like workshops/clubs. During the school year, YMCA camps and programs are more centralized and are available in 44 different elementary and middle schools.

We also discussed a normal day in the life of a VP. Karen said that during the school year, her schedule is more rigid in that she stays in the office until about 2pm and then is able to leave to talk with superintendents of schools and other staff that YMCA camps may need to foster relationships with. However, during the summer, Karen is able to do more site visits at the camps around the city. She can interact with and meet more staff at all levels as well and she can see, first hand, the impact that the camps are having on the children. In fact, the day I met with her, Karen had just come from a barbeque at one of the camp sites. She said she was grateful to have had the chance to visit this barbeque because it allowed her to have intentional conversations with parents while they were getting food with their children.

Karen helped me pick out a camp and got me in contact with the directors of those camps so that I could plan a visit. Because she knew that my undergraduate career is coming to a close, she also left me with some words of wisdom. She told me about how, when she was my age, she held a position similar to the one that I have now--an entry level internship-type job. She said that, like me, she majored in a field not closely related to business or management and she also did not have a degree higher than her bachelor’s degree. However, she was able to rise to the position she has now by making connections and by finding a job with a company that she loves and sticking with that organization. She let me know that this is the case with many CEOs and that there is hope for finding a great career in the future!

My name is Emily Cavazos. I was born and raised here in San Antonio and I attended Keystone School from Kindergarten through my senior year of high school. Currently, I am entering my senior year at Macalester College and am working towards a Biology major and an Art History minor. Throughout middle and high school, I was involved with three OST programs that shaped my interests and my aspirations today: Girl Scouts, PREP, and SAY Sí. This summer, I got a job working with the collective called Excel Beyond the Bell and am now the communications intern for all affiliated partner organizations such as the three that impacted me as a student.

I was involved in Girl Scouts from fourth grade until my senior year in high school. Girl Scouts allowed me to exercise my ability to achieve goals and understand that I was strong, both mentally and physically. I made bonds with the other girls in my troop and, from Girl Scouts, I was able to explore my interest in robotics. Eventually, two of my fellow scouts and myself started our very own robotics team at Keystone. We were able to run this team, raise money for supplies, delegate tasks, and design a functioning bot all on our own because of the experience we had during Girl Scouts. During my senior year, I received the prestigious Gold Award because of my work on a lesson plan for programming that would be brought to an all-girls school in Tanzania. Not only did these accomplishments enhance my resume but they also demonstrated how much I was able to achieve thanks to the support I received from my troop leader and fellow troop members.

Secondly, I went through the three main summer sessions of the PREP program where I was given the opportunity to realize the importance of STEM fields in day-to-day life and where I could foster my love of science and math in fun and engaging ways. Although it seemed daunting at first, this seven-week session of classes turned out to be extremely fun. Coming from a tiny private school where my graduating class ended up only consisting of 36 students, PREP was a way to meet more students like me. Also, one of the most impactful aspects of the PREP program for me were the guest lecturers we had almost every morning. These people were professionals and former PREP students with jobs based in STEM fields from all around San Antonio. I always hoped to someday become as successful as those professionals and be able to come back to PREP and share my story of success. PREP motivated me to major in Biology in college. I return to San Antonio from the cold north every summer. Every summer since college began I have transitioned into a worker for an OST program by taking on a position as a program assistant at PREP. Here, I was able to have a group of students to mentor, tutor and herd around a local college campus. My second summer as a PA, I worked at the third year site, St. Mary’s University. My PA from when I attended PREP was working as the office assistant, my algebra teacher, Mr. Castaneda, was still working as an instructor at PREP, and one student from my third year group was one of the other PAs at St. Mary’s. It was like a family reunion! I had a blast mentoring the kids and working with my group. I really valued my time working for PREP and I felt that I effectively fostered interest in the STEM fields for the kids.

Finally, I was chosen to participate in the SAY Sí art program during my junior year of high school. Even though I entered into the program later than most students, by the end of my time at SAY Sí I felt as if I had been there for years. At SAY Sí, I had access to art supplies and support from dedicated mentors. Upon completing different projects, I was even able to hang and sell my artwork in the SAY Sí gallery. SAY Sí has amazing alumni support and being involved in this program not only allowed me to explore my artistic interests but it also gave me access to a network of motivated students, mentors and nonprofit organizers. I still strive to keep art as a part of my life by minoring in art history and, last semester, I even did a study abroad program at an art school in the south of France.