Program improves students' skills

By Ayana Ando
Summer On-line Forty-Niner

Cal State Long Beach students hone their public speaking, writing and research skills this summer in the McNair Scholars Program.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the McNair Scholars Program helps students learn writing skills, and public speaking. The students also receive intensive training on how to conduct research and find information about choosing and applying for graduate schools. This year, 22 students are participating in the program. At the end of the six week program, some students will present projects.

Ruben Moreno, a senior comparative literature major, will give a presentation about the concepts of exile and memory, and how they function as catalysts for political activism, social change, and communal good in the works of Ariel Dorfman.

"Since the beginning of the program, I have come to the introspective conclusion that graduate school is not just a dream anymore, but a reality that is fully within my grasp." Moreno said. "This is the most important lesson that I've learned; the ability to further oneself lies within, and the biggest obstacles come from that same place."

Eve Oishi, a faculty research coordinator for the program said, "[We] try to give them a general sense of what means to be graduate students, and to give them help to get there. It is designed to encourage students who are under represented in undergraduate education to pursue Ph.D.s. So, students who are low-income and first generation college students, or people who have two several under represented ethnic groups."

"You know how they say everything you need to know you learned in kindergarten? I feel like everything I need to know for grad school I learned in McNair," Charissa Jefferson, a senior women's studies major said. "If someone is in the audience and is even considering graduate school, I want them to get inspired by our hard, intensive work, and realize that they too can achieve higher learning."

Jefferson's presentation is on the "Riot Grrrl Movement," and she said she wants people to see that they also can create the great project.

"We are doing what our parents did not get the chance to do -- and we are taking them on our journey with us. We are representing all our people who need a voice in our society but are not being heard. Our doctorates will make a difference -- we will give our people a voice," Jefferson said.

Brenda L. Quintero, a senior criminal justice, Chicano/Latino studies and Spanish major, will also give a presentation.

"My research project is a reflection of my life, so I'm eager to share a piece of my life, but to also bring awareness to others that might not be familiar with my topic," Quintero said.