Wednesday, November 25, 1998
Mentors guide at-risk youths on path to higher education
PROGRAM: Role models give eighth-graders chance to reach
goals
By Teresa Jun
Daily Bruin Contributor
UCLA pediatrician Dr. Olga Acosta does more than just take care
of sick children.
Outside of work, she spends her free time with a special
15-year-old who comes from an underprivileged downtown Los Angeles
community.
Xiomara Luna is a 10th-grader at Los Angeles High School,
located in a community where teen pregnancies and drug use are not
uncommon.
For a year and a half, Acosta has devoted her time as a mentor
to Luna, providing the teenager with a positive role model and
guidance in her path to college.
As mentors for the Fulfillment Fund, a 21-year-old, non-profit
educational organization, Acosta and about 300 other local
professionals have made a five-year commitment to local
eighth-graders who are on track to pursuing a college education,
despite coming from a disadvantaged background.
"(The mentorship program) appealed to me because I’m really
interested in encouraging kids – especially minorities – to pursue
higher education," said Acosta, who was the first in her family to
go to college.
"The problem is that (some of these kids) don’t always know what
options they have," she said. "Its important for adolescents to be
encouraged if they do have interests (in certain areas.)"
For Luna, this means pursuing her childhood dream of becoming a
pediatrician.
"When I was a little girl, I always liked doctor things –
especially helping little kids," Luna said. "So I knew I wanted to
be a doctor when I grew up."
With future plans to visit her mentor at her hospital workplace,
Luna has so far enjoyed all of the activities she has shared with
Acosta.
Besides movies, dinners and museum visits, Luna said she also
had fun at "the meeting where everybody (from the mentorship
program) got to know each other."
Not only has Luna made new friends, but she has also kept
herself focused on long-term goals through this program.
"Its a good helping program," she said. "It helped me keep
school stuff in order," she said, noting her grades have improved
over the last year.
With hopes of someday attending the University of Michigan, Luna
feels that getting admitted to college will be very important.
Many students who have a background similar to Luna’s often
don’t make it to college, because they are not on track for various
reasons, Acosta said.
"Either they took the wrong classes or they missed important
test dates. And by the time they’re seniors in high school, they
have plans to go to college, but it’s too late," Acosta said.
"So if you catch them early, it’s more likely that they will be
able to do it," she added.
As for her own student, Acosta has high hopes for Luna’s
future.
"(Luna) has great potential," Acosta said. "She has all the
right qualities to be a pediatrician, though she has a lot of
barriers to overcome."
These barriers, whether they be financial, educational, social
or personal, sparked the creation of the Fulfillment Fund in 1977
by Dr. Gary Gitnick, chief of digestive diseases at the UCLA
Medical Center.
"It was clear that problems in the inner city were going to
explode and building prisons was not the answer," Gitnick said.
Hundreds of mentors are now giving local children the
opportunity to pursue higher education in this city-wide program
that involves about 70 local schools, mostly in the L.A. Unified
School District.
Teenagers who demonstrate educational potential but come from
underprivileged backgrounds are sought to match up with local
professionals as mentors.
In addition, the Fulfillment Fund provides scholarships as well
as college counseling services. These include preparation for the
SAT, college applications and financial aid applications. This
privately funded organization has produced 11 former mentees who
now attend UCLA as undergraduates.
For her first time ever as a mentor, Acosta seems to be doing
well.
"She’s real nice, understanding. She’s there for me, and she’s a
good adviser," Luna said.
Acosta encourages others to volunteer as mentors for the
Fulfillment Fund because it’s rewarding for both the mentor and the
mentee.
"(The kids) are young and enthusiastic. And you absorb their
energy," she said. "You end up making a friend for life."
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