News

(Fall 2021) – This autumn marks Haley and Junior’s fifth year working together as a SMART volunteer and Scholar. When Haley moved from New York City to San Francisco, she was eager to find an opportunity to tutor and mentor students. With a simple search on Google, Haley found SMART!

Volunteers are fundamental to the success of SMART Scholars. Partnering with a Scholar’s Advisor, parents, and school, volunteers are committed to helping them achieve their academic and personal goals. Since 2017, Haley and Junior have worked with each other consistently. “We were paired when he was entering the seventh grade,” she said gleamingly, “Now, he’s a junior in high school!”

Going above and beyond her role as a tutor, Haley aims to be there for Junior as much as she can. Not only does she support with Junior’s academics, they also share about their lives, while cracking jokes along the way. For Junior, the best part of working together has been the relationship they’ve built over the years. “She always checks up on me to ask how I’m doing,” Junior shared. “I really love that about her.”

One of Haley’s most memorable highlights occurred in eighth grade, during Junior’s high school enrollment process. The two had dedicated long hours to composing essays and putting together applications to eight different high schools. Haley felt the whole process was overwhelming, and was excited to see Junior’s hard work paying off when he was accepted to his number one choice, St. Ignatius College Preparatory.

Along their journey, Haley noticed that the pressure around higher education has become much more demanding since her years in school. Every year has been different in terms of challenges and subject areas of focus. While Junior navigates the challenges of a rigorous curriculum, Haley navigates her learning curves as a tutor. Occasionally, she finds herself revisiting math concepts she had happily forgotten. To surpass the unfamiliar topics that come up, Haley resorts to old textbooks and the internet for additional guidance.

When the tutoring sessions transitioned online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Haley and Junior had to be more creative during sessions and learned to become flexible with meetings. Instead of meeting every Tuesday in the SMART office, they would text every Monday to secure a time slot that navigated around Junior’s ever-changing schedule for soccer practices and Haley’s hectic work schedule. Some of Junior’s favorite memories occurred over these sessions, where they tackled arising challenges as a team. In the end, the two were able to work collaboratively to ensure that Junior had the support he needed.

In the last few years, Haley has loved seeing “Junior grow through his adolescence and become a generous and driven teenager.” They share many positive memories with each other, ranging from playing Apples to Apple for hours and powering through homework assignments, to spending time with Junior’s parents at past SMART events. Having witnessed his patience and care for his family through stories and virtual interactions, it was especially heartwarming for Haley to meet Junior’s baby sister, who he speaks very fondly of. As his trusted confidante, Haley is committed to supporting Junior through his journey to college.

“Junior is a mature, dedicated, and funny…I am really proud of how far he’s come.”