If that’s you, then we invite you to become a Mentor of the CME (Connect, Motivate, Educate) Scholars, a growing community of SJSU alumni, faculty, staff, current students,and friends who are rolling up our sleeves and creating fresh options for some kids and young people who deserve to have new options. In fact, we’d like to ask you to considerbecoming one of our mentors, volunteering an hour a month to help a youth in your community gain access to higher education—especially, but not only, SJSU.
A grass-roots alumni and faculty-driven effort, we’re convinced that a small band of thoughtful, committed people really can change the world.
We think all youth have a capacity to dream a bold dream. Through no fault of their own, many young people are forced to go at life substantially on their own. Many get caught being children of the system. The capacity to dream gets lost. We want to help some of them find it again. We want to help them see higher education as a desirable and available pathway to their dreams. We believe that with the right kind of help from caring, competent, committed adults, many of them can go for it.
In addition to the 125 SJSU students who are eligible for our community right now, as many as 2500 pre-college foster kids need our help in making their way to college. It does not take a lot to help most young people understand the college application process. It doesn’t take a lot to help them identify their financial aid options, to drive them to the campus for a look around, to explain the community college transfer process.
But if you have children, you know that most need someone who will do that for them. Someone to remind them of deadlines. Someone willing to pick up the phone and go to bat for them when the bureaucracy is turning a deaf ear. Someone to cheer them on when confidence-crushing doubts nip at their heels.
You can be that someone for a former foster youth. One hour a month for one year. Modest commitment, but what an impact you could have!
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