EOP Celebrates Graduating Resilient Scholars

ANGEL AREVALO

Angel has earned his BA in Communication Studies. Angel shared with us that he was taken away from his parents to be raised by a guardian family who moved to various locations during his upbringing. As a troubled teen, he found himself drawn into the gang life but realized it would get him nowhere. That’s when he found his way to CSUN. Once former foster youth begin their studies in college, they can face obstacles that it seems no one else understands.

The shared lack of parental involvement often forges unusually strong bonds between siblings who feel compelled to take care of one another. Angel told us that this added to the many pressures of college: “My brother would get into trouble so I would have to go back and try to deal with that issue.” Regular meetings with fellow resilient scholars and program coordinators are what Angel is most thankful for: “EOP Resilient Scholars helped me out because we would have meetings every week, so that was a reminder and an anchor for me to help me stay at CSUN. I got support and they fed us, which helped me feel more comfortable at CSUN and made me want to stay.”

WALTER HARRIS

Walter's story is common among former foster youth, yet unimaginable to most of us, Walter’s parents were addicted to drugs and he was placed in foster care at the age of one. Many people are unaware of the unique difficulties former foster youth face when they begin the process of applying to college. Walter explained, “some of the obstacles I faced in applying to CSUN were getting the documents that were needed - from DCFS and the county, and trying to get in touch with the social worker.”

After much work, Walter was accepted into CSUN through EOP and attended the Residential Bridge Program in 2010 – where he initiated his experience with the Resilient Scholars program and the dedicated team of mentors & staff. “For a former foster youth, the support, yeah money and food – those are material things and we appreciate that, but just to be there for me as a person… like care about what’s going on in here (points to his heart)…I wouldn’t even know how to repay them.” Walter shared about EOP RSP. Walter will receive his BA in Child Development with a minor in Africana studies and was the invited student speaker at the 2015 Black Graduation Ceremony.

JASEMEIN HICKS

Jasemein is originally from Fresno, California. She never intended to apply to college, but it was a school assignment that led her to apply to different Universities and to her surprise she was accepted to several of them. The hardest challenge was to leave the familiarity of her hometown and her loved ones but after giving it some thought and realizing that no one around her was doing much with their lives she chose to start a new journey at CSUN. With the support of her counselors she settled into her new environment, facing then other obstacles like financial issues, dealing with situations back home and even loosing loved ones.

“The EOP Resilient Scholars Program helped me because they were just basically being supportive, during the entire time I was here. Whenever I had a question, I could go to them, go to the mentors, go to Jina (Coordinator of RSP), whenever I needed help with like dorms or personal counseling…they were just there guiding me. Jasemein will be graduating with a degree in Child and Adolescent Development; she is the first in her biological & foster family to graduate from college. She shares her advice with other Foster Youth on campus: “Never give up, never allow the things that you’ve been through stop you from pursuing your goals, it gets hard at times but you just got to keep going”

DESTINY MELODY JOHNSON

Destiny is about to receive her MS in College Counseling and Student Services. “I was born and raised in Oakland, California. I am the first in my family to go to college and actually graduate and now I’m pursing my Master’s,” Destiny told us. Describing her first days as a Resilient Scholar at CSUN, Destiny said, “I was lost, I didn’t know what to do, didn’t have any friends. Resilient Scholars gave me that sense of belonging, they gave me friends, they understood the struggle more than anyone else.”

Destiny embodies the title of the program, as she explained, “they built true resilience within myself… and now you can’t stop me. I didn’t realize I didn’t have a voice until I was part of this with everybody else and hearing their stories.” We completely agree with Destiny’s powerful suggestions for those who will follow her path: “I just want to say to all the Resilient Scholars who are coming and who are still in it… the fight and the struggle is real, you can make it… there is no obstacle too big that you can’t overcome, there is no conversation that should not be had… you can make it, you can talk to your professor… if you’re struggling, go to tutoring, we’re here for each other. Make this experience something memorable and come back, help. You can do it. I did it. You can do it.”

DEMONTEA "TEA" THOMPSON

Demontea will be graduating with a degree in Business Management. Many foster youth are taken in by loving family members who want to do all they can to help, but are limited in terms of resources and may be much older than the optimal age for child-rearing. Demontea and his twin brother Demonte “Tray”, regularly express their deep gratitude for the lessons they learned from their great uncle and aunt, who raised them. Their aunt passed away in 2005 and their uncle passed away earlier this year at 89 years old, having lived to see his great nephews thrive as successful college students. Tea’s professional goal is to be the president of a university.

Despite the lack of role models in higher education, Demontea knew that he and his twin brother had something special: “I always knew I would do something greater than an ordinary young man in Compton, California. Many people in my community… they make it out of high school and think that they’ve reached their goal. My ultimate goal is to get a Doctorate. So I’m going to go over and beyond and exceed the expectations that society has about black men.” Effective recruitment is a critical element of the RSP. The outreach efforts of EOP staff members from CSUN have provided hope and vital information for countless young people who weren’t aware of the opportunities available to them.

Demontea recalled these significant memories: “Sean James, a coordinator and a specialist, a mentor from EOP at CSUN came out to my school and spoke to us about the opportunities that they had and applying and getting into the school and the resources… It seemed that EOP at CSUN, they wanted us to be part of the family. The other schools didn’t reach out to us… knowing that Sean James was a representative from Northridge and was also from my neighborhood, it was encouraging for me to see that.” As he prepares for the upcoming commencement ceremonies, Demontea advises students who follow in his footsteps to “Speak up and speak out.”

DEMONTE “TRAY” THOMPSON

Demonte has earned his Business Finance degree. He shared the heartbreak of his family’s situation openly: “My great uncle and great aunt took us in because of our parents’ negligence… and their addiction to drugs. Throughout our time in the system, half of our siblings were with our grandmother.”

Though Demontea and Tray were always close, lifting each other up through the many hard times, most of their other siblings provided examples of exactly what they didn’t want their lives to become: “one of my brothers decided to join a gang… some of our sisters and brothers decided to have children at a young age… we saw how hard it would be to live a life like that. We knew we wanted to do something different.” With full knowledge that the deck was stacked against him and his brother, Tray was determined to push through all obstacles: “With there being only about 1-3% of students going into college being foster youth… I wanted to be in that statistic… me and my twin brother wanted to be in that statistic. It sounds so much better than the other statistics that we hear throughout our time in the foster care system, such as those who are incarcerated or who are without homes.”

Tray has learned important lessons that he wants to share with younger students, such as, “sometimes you can hurt yourself by being too active in clubs and organizations and even taking too many classes or working too much.” He warns those he mentors to find balance and purpose in their lives and to stay committed to their education, as he and his brother have: “One piece of advice I would give all who are foster youth here at Cal State Northridge is to keep going… you got this. You’re gonna make it, just as I have, and just as others before you have.”

The EOP Resilient Scholars Program hosted a reception on May 1 to honor the graduates and give an opportunity for staff, faculty and many other Resilient Scholars to celebrate the achievements of these hardworking students. Our RSP graduates are moving onto exciting futures, wherever they go and whatever they do, EOP will always be part of their support system. We thank them for allowing us to be part of that journey and for sharing their story with us.

For more information on the EOP Resilient Scholars Program, please visit: www.csun.edu/eop/rsp

Location: University Hall 205. Telephone: 818-677-4151