hardboiled

where's your "shadow"?

by jennifer phung

At Cal, it is quite common to see small groups of people going on campus tours and checking out the Campanile and the buildings. But on November 8, there were about 100 high school students who came to Berkeley to attend ShadowNite. These students did not only come for the campus tour, but also for the various workshops and information about the path towards higher education. ShadowNite, organized by REACH! (The Asian/Pacific Islander Recruitment and Retention Center), is a three day, two night program that brings high school students from central California and the Bay Area to the UC Berkeley campus. From November 8 to 10, high school students from Stockton, Sacramento, Oakland, and Vallejo all participated in interactive workshops, shared common experiences with one another, and stayed with college students while learning about college life.

For ShadowNite, there were different ice-breakers, workshops, and social activities planned for the youth. Among the workshops, the political awareness workshop introduced the youth to a different perspective that is not likely to be taught in school. College students presented a different side of hip-hop to the younger youth. The high school students engaged in discussions about the different types of hip-hop music and artists. They talked about the common themes in hip-hop music, such as racism, challenge of authority, poverty, and youth empowerment. During this workshop, the organizers showed several music videos, talked about the meaning of hip-hop, and pointed out how hip-hop can be used as a form of resistance. In addition, the high school students were also challenged to understand how different hip hop songs are selected for the mainstream. Many students were especially amazed by the spoken word artists that performed that day, which included UC Berkeley students Diana Savangsy, Maurice Seaty, and Sannah Rahim. Their words, voices, and messages helped students understand how this form of expression can be a way for people to deal with their problems in their families, schools, communities, or within their identities.

Besides raising political awareness, ShadowNite strives to offer students academic assistance towards higher education. The participants that ShadowNite recruited were mainly Asian American students. Even though it seems that the Asian American population is doing well in school, certain ethnic groups within the category are less likely to attain higher education and receive academic assistance.

“We outreach to those youth that have potential to succeed in life, but are having difficulties to get to that success due to limited resources around their communities. In our program, we stress the importance of pursuing any form of higher education to our students -- no matter if it is a community college, CSU, UC, private, or a trade school,” said Anna Chiang, one of the coordinators of ShadowNite.

The academic workshop informed students about the different forms of higher education and ways to pay for tuition. Students learned about scholarships, grants, loans, and the FAFSA. Another important aspect of this workshop was the Individual Academic Planner (IAP), which is a form that helps students plan their way to college, based on the completion of the A-G requirements. From this, the high school students were able to figure out what classes or credits they need to take in order to graduate from high school.

The political awareness and academic workshops certainly define a big portion of the program, but we must not forget that ShadowNite is also a chance for different students to get a feeling of what college is like. Many high school students may have heard of college, but few of them have actually taken campus tours or even seen how big a college campus is. Thus, ShadowNite is a great opportunity for students from disadvantaged backgrounds to personally experience the college environment. With the college students volunteering as big brothers and big sisters, the high school students can learn about their mentors’ experiences and insights, and understand that college is not just a dream, but can also be a reality for them. In fact, everyone learns from each other and realizes that they have grown a lot out of these three days and two nights.

“I enjoy planning this event because I believe that this event can change lives, not only the high school students’ (mentees) lives but the college students’ (mentors) lives as well”, Chiang said, “I was a past Shadow mentor, and that experience of mentoring a group of students changed my perspective on everything. When you see the growth of the mentees in terms of knowledge, community awareness, and self-confidence from the day they step in to the day that they leave the program, you will definitely feel that you had made a positive impact on a student’s life. This feeling is so rewarding; it makes my endless nights of no sleep from planning this event worthwhile.”

For every ShadowNite, the most inspiring and memorable part of the event would probably be when the mentors share their life stories and the experiences they had in high school and college. Khristopher Patrick, a participant from Oakland High School, explains the impact of ShadowNite on him: “The intervention that we had on the last day was a real eye opener. I thought the things that I went through were stressful; but I really have nothing to worry about compared to the lives of the people who shared their experiences. Their stories made me want to change the way I live my life and get my priorities in line.” Through this activity, the high school students learned about the different struggles that many mentors had faced on their way to higher education. From this process of opening up and sharing personal experiences, the students gained a new perspective and were inspired to persist when faced with their own hardships.

Overall, the ShadowNite event was a success, bringing in different groups of students and providing an eye-opening experience for the students and mentors. Surely, after the event, the students have a better grasp of “college” and are more socially aware about our communities. To those who come from socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, this experience has reassured their dreams and given them the confidence and resources they lacked before in terms of higher education. ShadowNite will definitely continue on, providing more opportunities to students who are in need.

For those who are interested in becoming a mentor, volunteer, houser, or a part of this life-changing event in Spring 2008, please contact the Shadow Coordinators: Anna Chiang, annachiang@berkeley.edu or Brian Pham, bpham2006@ berkeley.edu.