#utgearup

Hi Honors and Riverbat friends!

My name is Aaron; you may know me as the Social Media Team Lead for the HSO. Last spring, I had the pleasure to attend a valuable and life-changing series of workshops at ACC, hosted by The University of Texas at Austin. This week, it was announced that UT Austin and the ACC Honors Program have renewed their partnership to offer these workshops in 2022 as well. I’m talking of course about the UT Youth and Community Studies Fellowship and UT GEAR UP Internship—two opportunities uniquely available to Honors students at ACC.

Hosted by the Youth and Community Studies department of the College of Education at UT, the YCS Fellowship and UT GEAR UP Internship grant ACC Honors students the opportunity to explore a path in education and community leadership. By learning about identity—both their own and those of the people around them—YCS Fellows gain key insights into what it means to be an educator.

All Honors students at ACC are encouraged to apply. To do so, students of the Honors Program are asked to access their g.austincc.edu email account and locate the email from Dr. Anne-Marie Thomas entitled “ [Honors-Students] UT partnership with ACC Honors Program (plus paid internships)". There, you will find all links and details included.

Not only do you get to work with UT faculty and motivated students, but you also might discover your place within a community. It’s powerful stuff, the likes of which strongly influenced *every* participant with whom I personally had the pleasure to work, together as YCS Fellows. One of the students there alongside me last spring was none other than our own Mars Medina, HSO President.

I sat down with Mars to get their take on our experience together as YCS Fellows. Since Mars also participated in the UT GEAR UP Internship, I was particularly interested to know their holisitic insights. Mars’s responses to my prompts follow [transcribed from speech to text].

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Me: How do you look back on your time as a YCS Fellow & UT GEAR UP Intern?

Mars: “I can’t say enough good things about the YCS [Fellowship] and UT GEAR UP Internship. It’s a wonderful experience, even if you aren’t an education major or looking to become an educator. It really teaches you ways to connect with students as a teacher and learn valuable insights into student identities. You learn [concepts] like community building circles, which not only teaches you about yourself but about other people and being able to foster community within those circles. You get a real good glimpse of what education is all about.”

Me: What was it like for you to learn under UT faculty?

Mars: “The teachers were fantastic. The educators that were with us for those workshops were committed to having us understand not just things about ourselves, but about students and education. It was a wonderful experience.”

Me: You were selected for the UT GEAR UP Internship. What was that like?

Mars: “Going into the UT GEAR UP Internship, that’s when you really get to put those skills to work: [You’re working] with UT staff and students for a week and [making] the [students’] education as thought-provoking as possible. It was wonderful to see things like social studies, P.E., writing—things that normally some students may not be necessarily good at and have kids engage with them. It truly is a glimpse at what teachers and educators are doing behind those screens.”

Me: What's your final takeaway from YCS and UT GEAR UP?

Mars: “It was such a wonderful experience. I highly recommend this program. It changed the way I look at my leadership skills and my role in a community.”

To learn more about Youth and Community Studies at UT, you may also visit their website. The deadline to apply as a YCS Fellow is December 12th at 11:59 pm. Participation as a YCS Fellow fulfills the leadership requirement toward becoming an Honors Scholar and grants eligibility to apply for the UT GEAR UP Internship in the summer.