Member Stories

Heather, East Palo Alto Academy High School

This year has been nothing short of transformative for me.  As a recent college graduate from Stanford, I was looking for a way to spend a year before graduate school that would allow me to both have a great job and be “walking the walking” of public service. Of the many options that I explored, I was very fortunate to be hired by East Palo Academy as a corps member and special needs paraprofessional. I came in to this job, as a eager but shy kid who was still sorting out my future, and trying to find that balance between life and work.  I will be graduating July, a confident, focused women prepared to enter the world of education as a Stanford Teacher in Education student, and Annenberg Teaching Fellow. Both my admittance to STEP and my fellowship can, in large part, be credited to my work with BAYAC this year. I will carry the things I have learned this year with me for the rest of my professional life.

However, while this was an amazing professional opportunity, what will really stick with me are the relationships I’ve built with my colleagues and the members of the San Jose/Peninsula crew. In addition to being an incredibly supportive environment, these are also some of the most brilliant, hard-working, and fun group of people I’ve ever encountered. More importantly, they are infinitely good people to their core who will no doubt, be making incredible contributions to whatever community they live in. These are the kind of friendships you hope to maintain for life, and in the case of our group, three of us will be going to grad school together next year. This is a great opportunity to spend a year (or two!) doing jobs that have a real tangible impact, and that will allow you to meet people who are nothing short of extraordinary, whether they are members of the population you are serving or your fellow core members.