Hello! I am Anna from Louisiana – the 48th best state in education. When I was accepted to Cal I was very excited, however I feared that I would have to fight an uphill battle. “They made a mistake. I’m not ready. How will I ever do well.” My first experience at Cal was through the Summer Bridge Program where I took Chem P and Math 32. Both courses were preparatory for Chem 1A and Math 1A respectively. I felt that I would never succeed since I was way below the average for Cal’s test scores and felt that I needed to take these preparatory courses. However, through the incredibly helpful staff at Summer Bridge I was able to learn that my view of Cal was quite wrong. Peer advisors, group leaders, and tutors all helped me establish the background that I needed to study, and they provided me with the confidence to know that I in fact do belong at Cal.
I am so grateful for the help I received at Cal. I want to do everything that I can to return the help that I received in my transition to Cal. Prerak Juthani, one of the co-founders for PEACE was one of my group leaders for Chem P. He told me about PEACE and urged me to join as one of the tutors, so after my first semester I joined as a Chemistry and Math tutor. I was then able to go back to Summer Bridge a year later to be a Math tutor. I also became a Teacher Scholar for Chem 1A Fall 2015. I have absolutely loved the experience. Cal can be very intimidating, but PEACE is doing wonderful things to combat that. Through free tutoring and free advising, PEACE has already made combated Cal’s cut throat stereotype.