As the wife of Rotarian, Bob Rosenberg, I heard about YIP at a Rotary social gathering. I was an educational consultant working with middle schools, high schools, and colleges and felt that, upon retirement, it would be a perfect fit with my skills and interests. I was paired with Precious Ramirez in spring of her 7th grade year at California Middle School. With a stated goal of ‘going to college’, she did not have the family role models or knowledge of what was required to make that a reality. We met almost weekly through the remaining year of middle school, with the goal of Precious starting her freshman year at Christian Brothers, a long-held dream of hers. Enrollment with a full-ride scholarship at Christian Brothers, did not guarantee Precious’ academic success. After a rocky freshman year, she began the path toward graduation and meeting college admissions requirements. We toured colleges campuses, and we spent time discussing the ‘best fit’ for her career interests and the economic realities of college. Precious is about to enter her 5th and final year at Sac State with a major in Social Work and a minor in Counseling. She has worked very hard, is focused and has completed 8 consecutive full-time semesters, with a cumulative GPA of 3.7. She has had all A’s for the past 3 semesters!
Precious is now a confident young woman who is still considering which direction her social work career will take and graduate school options. Her success is largely due to her availing herself of resources that were provided to her by the YIP program. Not only the academic and emotional support provided by Bob and I, but the peer group interaction and events that the Rotary mentors organized, helped provide all YIP mentees with a sense of community. Most importantly, the $10,000 scholarship she has received (by fulfilling all the YIP academic requirements) has made the difference of her being able to attend 4 years of college without the need for student loans! A huge factor when she considered the economic realities of attending a 4-year college.
This is just one of YIP’s many success stories. You will learn of more in the future. Not every YIP student has entered or completed college, but all have graduated from high school and benefited from group interaction, events, and the support of Rotary mentors. Precious recently helped her youngest sibling become a Christian Brothers freshman, a great example of “paying it forward” and sustaining Rotary’s ‘service above self’. The Rotary Club of Sacramento should be very proud of the YIP program. Please continue that support and consider expanding it to make funds available to more deserving first-generation students. Bob and I encourage Rotarians to become mentors. It has been a very rewarding journey, one that is not yet done. Precious is now part of our family, as we have become part of hers.
Shirley Rosenberg