Final Project Script and Narrative

Script:

About two years ago, I received feedback from a student that I never really achieved a deep connection with. I assumed that I just wasn’t her jam. But I continued to try to reach her in the same way I was able to reach the other students.

One day, some sort of conflict led us to have a conversation and this student said “can I be real with you.” To which I responded, “Uh-oh!”

She proceeded to say that I was too nice. She said no one in her life had ever been this nice without disappointing her in the end and she simply didn’t trust me not to do the same. She said if I wanted to build a connection with her, I had to be more “abrasive”. This conversation completely reshaped the way I choose to engage with my students.

What I learned from this is that my approach isn’t going to reach everyone. I am naturally a sensitive, nurturing, compassionate person but that isn’t going to be a strength for me with everyone that I work with. It’s not about how much love and care and kindness I radiate, my students aren’t going to feel safe if they don’t feel like their reality is truly understood.

We know that our students come from different realities and that they carry these traumatic experiences that affect the way they navigate relationships and connections, and so it is our job as educators, youth workers, advisors, and mentors to build and co-create spaces of connection that are informed by each student’s individual needs.

It’s okay to ask your student:

“what feels safe for you?”

“What ways would you like for me to show you that I care?”

My name is Jay Salcedo and I’ve been a youth worker and educator for over 6 years. In December of 2020, peak-covid, I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Youth Development at Rhode Island College and now, Summer 2023, I am literally 2 days away from completing my Master of Arts in Youth Development.

As I worked towards this Masters, I focused on defining my beliefs and values as a youth worker and what I envision for myself professionally. It’s important to me that I work in a space where young people have autonomy and opportunities to explore themselves and grow in their own ways.

It’s become increasingly difficult to find K-12 spaces that align with my values. So this year, I began a new position as a Program Manager at the Undocumented, First-generation College, and Low-income (U-FLi) Student Center at Brown University supporting U-FLi students’ transition from high school to college through advising and programming. Let me tell you, higher ed is a shift.

But even though I’m in a different setting, a different context, you wouldn’t believe what I carry in my back pocket? What continues to inform my work? My beliefs and my values. Who’d have thought?

Currently, there is no organized system for advising in my department. In past years, there were 16-20 students, they were divided amongst two staff members, they engaged in high-touch advising for a year, and the next year, a new set of students. Easy to track, easy to manage.

Beginning this Fall, I’ll be advising for the very first time, except I’ll have 20 students, and the one year program has expanded into a four year program. And I’m no mathematician but I’m pretty sure that means it's time to create a system.

But not just any system, I’m going to demonstrate how I apply my beliefs and values to inform this system.

I believe that students are best supported through interactive, collaborative and multimodal advising. So what does this mean? To effectively support students, we must learn how they like to receive support. We do this through open communication, inviting feedback, trying out different approaches, but most importantly, working WITH them, not for them.

I believe that students are best supported when holistic care is at the center of their advising relationship. Holistic care is about looking to support students beyond their academic success, caring about their entire well-being, and recognizing and acknowledging the complexities of their unique identities and experiences.

I believe that students are best supported when they have access to an organized system that allows them to manage and shape their advising experience. Students should have ownership of their learning and growth journeys. However, the key word is organized. In order for a system to be effective, it must be intentionally designed and easily navigable.

I present to you the Scholar Advising Space.

This folder is collaborative. Integrated within the structure are opportunities for each student to make their advising space uniquely their own.

This folder is holistic. I’ve included resources such as time-management tools, and self- practices updates will be made based on students' individualized needs and interests.

This folder is organized. It is a shared responsibility to keep it that way so that it can continue to serve the student throughout their entire college journey and beyond.

Let’s take a closer look at the advising document.

Each student will have a cover sheet that we will fill out together. This way, they’re involved in the process of defining our space. I ask questions like “what aspects of a mentorship relationship are most important to you?” and “what advising approaches would you like to see in our sessions?” Not only does this ensure that I am best serving the student but it actually makes my job easier.

I incorporated a Providence street art theme because part of the curriculum is engaging with the local community. Each session will begin with a quote that sets my intention. And then students will pick a card from the affirmation deck that speaks to their intention.

Each session will end with space for the student to share what they would like to discuss the next session. You see, there’s intentionality and structure, but there’s also fluidity and freedom.

Even in the affirmation deck, there is a slide around how students can use the deck on their own time in their own space.

And that really is the key. Equipping students with tools they can use outside of your time together. I’m a bit of a techno-constructivist. I’m grateful to live in a time of technology where our files seem to be able to live forever, to be timeless in a sense. And I often tap into my past work for guidance and inspiration for my present work. I try to give this same opportunity to my students through this use of technology.

I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t still have access to all of my youth development thinking from college. But I only feel this way about my youth development work because its structure allowed me to shape my own learning.

When students inform the work you do together, your time as an educator becomes an investment of endless value to their future. Because what they co-create STAYS with them.

As educators, youth workers, advisors, and mentors, don’t we want the work that we do with our students now to be able to inspire the work that they do in different contexts or different time periods, a year, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years. Isn’t that the goal?

For that to be achieved, we must create systems of learning that students are not only active participants in, but have ownership of. It needs to be theirs. And it needs to be collaborative, holistic, and organized.

Thank you.

Narrative:

In thinking about my final project, I struggled a lot because it seemed to be tailored to a classroom setting where I would be the teacher and I am changing something based on my beliefs about how students learn best. At my job, things are already so digital because the university ensures every student has a laptop and so much of their work is digital. But during our individual advising sessions and whole group meetings, it's really our time to be present and share community. So it was hard to think of a way to bring technology in because I don’t think I want to change that part of it. I decided to change “I believe students learn best…” to “I believe students are best supported…” because of my role as an advisor. I brainstormed what my beliefs are when it comes to youth work and I wrote down community, love, affirmation, organization, care at the center, collaboration, and active communication. I am so proud to have created something that embodies all of these values and that has actually sparked inspiration and motivation in me. This was the first time in this new context of higher ed that I was able to really apply my unique youth development background and I can’t wait to show my boss what I’ve created.

I was inspired to create the “Scholar Advising Space” by danah boyd when she talked about students being so amazed by MySpace and getting really excited about customizing it. That made me think of creating a “MySpace” for advising that my advisees can customize and be a part of. The different pieces in the folder were inspired by different people. The affirmation deck was inspired by Pierson when she talked about the affirmations her and her students would say together. She said, “You say it long enough, it starts to be a part of you.” I want my students to have access to words of affirmation as a tool to manage stress, fear, imposter syndrome, insecurities, and other transitional issues. The “advising notes” doc was inspired by YDEV of course. The intentionality of the theme and design, the way its structured and interactive. I’m excited to create something for my students that has been so impactful for me. And the “exit question” was inspired by Lesley’s exit slip, which is helpful because students have access to come back to the question anytime before our next session and it helps me know what they would like support with in advance. This project is the beginning of a system and space of connection that is individualized and effective. It is a better way to get to know students and what ways they would like to receive care from me.