High School Graduates Find Support in Peer-to-Peer Mentoring

Los Angeles CA

09 April, 2021

1:22 AM

Description

Students at eight college campuses across Southern California are finding support in a peer-to-peer mentorship program that pairs recent high school graduates from Alliance College-Ready Public Schools with college students (also Alliance alumni) attending the same college or university. The program known as AMP or Alliance Mentorship Program seeks to address increased disparities in mental health, particularly during COVID, and offer support for mentors and mentees throughout their college experience to ensure they build emotional resilience, stay in college and graduate. Participating colleges, mainly from the Cal State University and University of California systems, are selected based on Alliance alumni matriculation rates. "AMP offers mentors professional development and training on resume building, financial literacy, self-care and mindfulness, as well as how to be a mentor," said Esau Molina, manager of alumni supports for AMP. "Similarly, we help mentees tackle financial aid, class registration, social-emotional needs, and academics. We know that the longer they participate in AMP, the higher their chance of graduating," he added. Indeed, students who participate in AMP and receive needed supports matriculate at higher rates than those who don't. In 2019, the program achieved 93% matriculation among supported freshmen, who were first generation and BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color). During the pandemic, 95% of supported students matriculated compared to 88% of those who didn't participate in the program. In any given year, AMP serves more than 600 mentees, but this year, because of COVID, 420 mentees have signed on so far for 109 mentors. This number will likely increase as students receive college acceptance letters, but program directors say that the pandemic affected students in a variety of ways and particularly increased disparities in mental health. "Mental health issues aren't often normalized," said Molina. "However, increasingly, we're seeing younger people speaking about them. What's great about this, is that by creating a culture of vulnerability, we find opportunities to help struggling students," he added. At California State University Northridge (CSUN), Lizbeth Bautista, a second-year student and psychology major was paired with Hailee Guerra, a freshman who suffered emotional distress as a result of her transition from high school to college during COVID. Both mentor and mentee graduated from the same high school, Alliance Margaret M. Bloomfield High School in Huntington Park, California, which provided the young women with a common point of reference from which to get to know each other. In addition, Lisbeth's major in psychology gave Hailey the confidence to speak with her mentor openly about personal mental health issues. First-year student challenges range from the need for laptops to missed important deadlines for financial aid, matriculation, class enrollment and more. For many, these missteps often lead to anxiety, depression, isolation and keep them from attending college. This is why, once student challenges are identified, professionals step in to help with a variety of resources. Key to AMP is the mentor-to-mentee ratio. The program typically offers a 1-to-5 ratio at CSUs and 1-to-3 ratio at UCs based on the number of students attending a given school. Another critical aspect of the program is knowing where and how students are struggling. Alliance tracks all of its students via a national Clearinghouse reported by the university. It looks at the percentage of students who attend professional training workshops as well as the number that matriculates to gauge student engagement and participation. This information isn't easy to come by, say program officials. It requires persistence, an arduous system comprised of mentor logs spanning the entire academic year, as mentors are the "eyes on the ground," and strong relationships with university staff. "Getting first gen and BIPOC students to college is one thing," said Molina. "But, helping them navigate a system that wasn't intended for them because of systemically racist foundations, is another, and that's what we do."