SWC Professionals help Bayan Scholars Develop Networking Skills

Photo by Ernesto Rivera

As we grow, Bayan plans to offer a mentor program, matching scholars with professionals for all the benefits we know that mentorship provides. Even as we aren’t at a place - yet! - for a full-blown mentor program as  PUENTE has, we can still help students develop skills they will need to make the most of mentor opportunities such as networking, introducing ourselves, asking questions - those “soft skills” that can make a huge difference. 

To that end, we set up a “mixer event” where students and Southwestern College professionals met “cocktail party-style” (there was no alcohol - just candy!) to practice meeting and greeting each other.

We broke the program up over a few days, reserving a portion of two class periods of Personal Development to prepare for the event. On the first day, students composed and practiced informal “elevator pitches,” quick self-introductions students might make when meeting a new teacher, prospective employer, or other person who they meet. The pitches we practiced were less formal than those proposed by Forbes or LinkedIn. Ours were intended for a more casual, low stakes situation. Folks jotted down their elevator pitches and practiced in front of the class and in pairs. 

Summer Retreat, Part III: So, What’s Next?

Bayan Student Organization Board Members

Note: This entry is the third of three posts that record the ideas Bayan scholars and professors had at at our Summer 2018 planning retreat,The first entry outlines our reflections about what made our experiences feel humanized, what made the learning feel so “live”. The second entry outlines our exploration about the particularity of Filipino American experience that requires a special kind of “rehumanization”. We began exploring what about the our own individual experiences, sociology, and history might account for the dehumanization. This third and final entry outlines suggestions and ideas 

For the final portion of the retreat, we discussed suggestions for next year.We came up with four themes, all of which logically followed from the retreat activities and our experiences in Bayan. 

Focus on History/Sociology and Identity : A significant portion of the discussion focused around our lack of formal knowledge regarding Filipino American history and sociology. How did we get here? What, if anything, characterized our peoples’ experiences. What were the factors that lead to our inclusion in the US story? How might lack of information or misinformation impact our individual sense of self as well our sense of belonging to the larger society? The professors need to include more history - the stuff students (and professors!) don’t know or information has been hidden. As a class, we can deconstruct and revise our understandings of ourselves and our situation here in the USA.