Puente Student Personal Statement

Introduction:

The PUENTE Community College Program is an academic, counseling and mentoring program that provides support for students in building the skills necessary for success in both academics and career goals while attending community college. Students enrolled in the PUENTE program work closely with their Counselor, Instructors and Mentor to prepare them to transfer to four-year colleges and universities.

Counseling Assistant Major Work and Responsibilities

During the course of my fieldwork I worked directly to the Co-Directors of the Puente Program at East Los Angeles College (ELAC) as their Counseling Assistant. Through my position I was able to assist the Puente Counselor by meeting with students in the program, primarily students

The trip was four days of taking students to seven universities such as Stanford, UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis located in Northern California. My duties for planning the Northern California trip included reaching out and connecting with various universes and handling some of the finical cost in the form meetings that were held at the end of each day. Lastly, I assisted and presented a study strategies workshop and a transition into a four-year institution/pathway to graduate workshop for the primarily, though not exclusively for Puente students.

Advising Puente Students

Throughout my fieldwork experience I was given the opportunity to advise a diverse group of students who are transferring this semester. I gain much experience advising each student and was able to apply much of the theory I acquired this semester as well as some of the counseling techniques I learn last semester from my advising course. Being a former Puente student, I felt that the students could sense the genuine support I was express when acknowledging their problems and at times share my own experiences with the transfer process.

Unexpected Experiences: Peer

The presentations provided me a great learning experience for me to teach and share what I know in a classroom setting while getting feedback. I felt more at ease with my second workshop in regards to the transition process/pathway to graduate school, as I was sharing my personal experience mixed with that of the facts and figures that I had research to give students a clear understanding of the process. With my future goals of becoming an advisor at a Community College for a first year experience (FYE) program, I am glad to put on my resume that I have started to gain experience teaching, as teaching a college prep course are the duties of advisors in FYE