On Tuesday, May 12th 2015, three of our BRIDGE Fellows, Sean Abrams (UCSF, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences), Justice Castaneda (Sociology in UCSF School of Nursing) and Alain Bonny (UCSF, Biophysics) met with the Oakland Boys and Men of Color Group at Bret Harte Middle School in Oakland California.
From L to R, Sean Abrams, Justice Castaneda and Alain Bonny.
The Oakland Boys and Men of Color Initiative is a partnership among local, regional and statewide organizations and individuals who are focused on improving outcomes for boys and men of color.
The objective of this meeting was to provide an opportunity for role model mentorship of these young students.
The BRIDGE Fellows talked about how they became interested in their research, what their work involves, the challenges they have faced and how they overcame them. The Fellows also talked about the subjects that they liked and found exciting and the strategies they used for studying subjects that did not excite them. The Fellows provided encouragement and advice regarding a college education and deciding on a career path.
“Shaun brought some mouse skeletons and asked the students to identify which ones were the mutants, which they were able to detect. Justice told them that math is not just about numbers but can be used to build and study complex models. Alain spoke about his desire to get good at math and the practice it required.” Mary Kreger, a Senior Researcher in the Institute for Health Policy Studies, and Keith Brown, the Teacher Leader at Bret Harte Middle School helped to organize the mentoring session.
The students were pleased with the opportunity to meet with the BRIDGE Fellows. The final part of the meeting will be a letter exchange based on Dr. Walton and Dr. Cohen’s work on social belonging and the academic and health outcomes of minority students.
We hope to repeat a similar meeting by the BRIDGE Fellows next year.