Oh, boy. Two hundred students. Staring. At me.
How did I get myself into this mess? Well, let’s just say I have a slight problem saying no to my past. My sister’s AVID teacher, Barbara Elia, asked me to speak to the class, and then it expanded it to any interested students at my alma mater, Bishop Union High School, about my career and journey to becoming an editor.
I warned Elia that it’s not exactly glamorous or awe-inspiring, but she said the path I took to get where I am was more important.
Thankfully, it turned out that only about 60 kids wanted to know all about past participles, AP Style guides and what a deck is. They really busted my chops with questions like, “Have you ever thought about changing careers?” Truth be told, I still wonder what my life would be like if Mom hadn’t talked me out of becoming a veterinarian.
But back to AVID, which stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. This is a wonderful program that should be implemented in all schools and somehow made available to all students, or at least parts of it should be required for all high school students.
For instance, my sister is far more prepared than I ever was for the college application process. She also knows a heck of a lot more about various colleges and universities than I did.
And AVID students get to hear from people who have gone on that journey from high school to college to the real world.
According to Elia, one of the points of AVID is to expose students to possible careers. I really, really doubt any of the students I spoke to have a burning desire to become journalists, but at least they know the field exists and what it entails — and can cross it off their lists of possible careers.
Don’t get me wrong. I love what I do, but I think for high school students words like “no money,” “lots of hours” and “angry phone calls” don’t exactly strike them as fun.
In Newport-Mesa Unified School District, four high schools and three middle schools have AVID programs with a grand total of 705 students enrolled, said Director of Secondary Programs Tom Antal.
Each AVID teacher has some wiggle room to shape the program around their strengths, but the core ideal of giving students that extra little bit of help they need to get into college is always there, starting with the basic step of giving students help with their homework.
