Christabelle and Zaira

Zaira and Christabelle received the 5 Saturdays STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Agile, and Math) program 2020 scholarship and shared their three year immersive learning experience.

Interview with Zaira

Dr. Dave: I’m really stoked that we got this opportunity to connect, to talk about your achievements, as one thing, but also really important, I’m really excited about the fact that we got to meet when you first came through the 5 Saturdays STEAM program three years ago, and just looking to see where you are today. So let’s start by talking about being one of the 5 Saturdays 2020 scholarship recipient. How does that make you feel? You think about it, for the very first time we met you, I think you just finished your freshman year or you were a sophomore and… How does it make you feel?

Zaira: Well, I was somewhat shocked, but extremely grateful for the opportunity because I had gone to the workshop every summer while in high school and I learned so much from it and ate a lot. So I really thought that I benefited all I could have from it. But then you guys blessed me with a scholarship and I was like, “Oh, they just keep on giving.”

Dr. Dave: That’s what we do. That’s what we do. So graduated from high school, which is awesome. Where are you going to go to college?

Zaira: To the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Dave: Wow. You’re going to be a Cal person.

Zaira:

Yeah.

Dr. Dave: That’s amazing. What made you choose Cal?

Zaira: I think their social justice programs and their involvement with the community and because I also want to major in sociology and minor in policy analysis to pursue a career in social work, specifically social welfare. It just seemed like overall fit.

Dr. Dave: Well, that sounds wonderful, especially with what’s going on today. The challenges. So talk to me about the skills that you got from 5 Saturdays. You started it somewhere after your freshman year, and then you came back during your sophomore year, and then you came back in 2019 as a learning facilitator, which is… You got to change t-shirts, you got to be at the front of the room. What leadership skills did you learn?

Zaira: Well, when I was a student, the end of my freshman year and the end of my sophomore year, I learned new strategies for brainstorming and bouncing off ideas off of different people. I learned how to work within a group while also being able to within my group work with other groups and brainstorm with them. There’s so many skills, it’s just hard off the top of my head, but as a learning facilitator, I think all those skills as a student carried on, because I knew what it was like to be a student and as a learning facilitator, I was like, “Okay, you don’t know blank, so let’s start from point zero and work up.” It just helped with process of brainstorming and creating businesses and expressing ideas.

Dr. Dave: I thought it was fun. I always enjoyed the projects that you and your team came up with. It was really so much fun. So how will these leadership skills help you as you move to the next level in college?

Zaira: Well, I know how to be a team player. I know how to lead within a team. And now I also know how to coach a team. So in college I can work as a student alongside my peers while also working as a tutor or a teacher’s assistant to help the people outside of my own learning circle.

Dr.