Mission Graduates is excited to add another talented volunteer to our team. Make’s involvement with Mission Graduates all started with her Communications and Social Justice class that she takes at the University of San Francisco. “For my community service work, I had one of two choices. I could tutor once a week and go home unfulfilled, or I could pour my heart into something that I can see grow”.
As a lover of photography, Make acknowledges that visual displays of storytelling are powerful tools in transmitting a message, now more than ever. For the next several months, Make will be working on a documentary about what goes on behind-the-scenes of Mission Graduates.
“The thought of the final product makes me nervous, but when it does, I just remember my teacher’s words: ‘Don’t focus on the final product because you will lose the focus on the process'”.
So far, Make has attended a board meeting in which she met two students, Maya, who will be attending Vassar University next year on a QuestBridge scholarship, and Alan, who will be attending UC Berkeley on a Kids’ Millennium Scholarship.
“I met a student who said that she never even dreamed to go to college, and now she attends a prestigious university in the East Coast. She spoke so eloquently and passionately that I forgot that I was filming. I saw how Mission Graduates supported her in achieving her dreams. She was telling her story so graciously, as if she saw an opportunity behind every obstacle”.
Stories like Maya’s are what inspired Make to work with Mission Graduates and to learn about the community’s effort behind every program that supports the youth. “We hear and even acknowledge the struggle that exists in the journey to college, but here I see youngsters who are doing it, who are going above and beyond, and who are even more dedicated than what I’m used to seeing. They’re the minds of the future!”
Stay tuned for Make’s progress with her upcoming documentary. We have planted the seed, and a title will soon sprout up. In the meantime, feel free to check out her blog on http://planteddeeds.blogspot.com/.