#364 – Supporting Students After Graduation, with Dr. Aliber Lozano

If you are listening to the podcast with your instructional team or would like to explore this topic more deeply, here are guiding questions to prompt your reflection:

• What was your journey like when you graduated from high school?
• Who supported your journey and how did they do it?
• What are the biggest challenges faced by recent graduates?
• How is AVID supporting its alumni?
• In what way can schools support alumni?
• What can you do to support alumni?

• AVID Alumni (AVID)
• Join the AVID Alumni Family! (AVID Alumni Services)
• AVIDly Adulting Podcast (AVID)
• FAFSA (Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education)

#364 Supporting Students After Graduation, with Dr. Aliber Lozano

AVID Open Access
49 min

Keywords
growth mindset, student agency, first-generation students, financial literacy, social capital, mental health, imposter syndrome, networking skills, professional learning, career preparation, alumni support, community building, career success, student resilience

Transcript

The following transcript was automatically generated from the podcast audio by generative artificial intelligence.  Because of the automated nature of the process, this transcript may include unintended transcription and mechanical errors.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 0:00 How do we best prepare our students to be ready and successful for college, career, and I’m going to add there, and life? And we drew that through educators having a growth mindset and making sure you feed and nurture student agency.

Rena Clark 0:18 The topic for today’s podcast is supporting students after graduation with Dr. Aliber Lozano.

Rena Clark 0:26 Unpacking Education is brought to you by avid.org.

Rena Clark 0:30 AVID believes in seeing the potential in every student. To learn more about AVID, visit their website at avid.org.

Rena Clark 0:39 Welcome to Unpacking Education, the podcast where we explore current issues and best practices in education.

Winston Benjamin 0:49 I’m Rena Clark, I’m Paul Beckerman, and I’m Winston Benjamin. We are educators, and we’re here to share insights and actionable strategies.

Transition Music with Rena’s Children 1:00 Education is our passport to the future.

Rena Clark 1:05 Our quote from today is from our guest, Dr. Aliber Lozano, and he always ends his podcast by saying, “Be good today. That’s enough, and together, let’s strive to be great tomorrow,” which is a wonderful send-off. So I’m wondering what you both think about that quote.

Paul Beckermann 1:25 I love the ending. I think it’s a great way to end a podcast. I really like the growth mindset context of the quote, striving to get better every day, as well as it’s together that we’re going to become great. That collaborative spirit of the quote is really strong. So those are great things to send off any message with.

Winston Benjamin 1:45 So for me, I feel that’s speaking to my day that I had today, and I think it’s a really good way for teachers or any individual to really hear: “You did enough,” right? Because sometimes in our world, we’re isolated in our classrooms or isolated in our own space. We don’t really have other adults to sit with us and talk to us about, “Yeah, we did good or bad.” We have our kids in front of us, and we’re worried about how they did.

So I think that really helps me reset. And I think, just in general, for today, I definitely need a reset. But also I think it’s a good reset in general for the star teachers to remember that tomorrow we will be great together. So that’s another good point. So I really appreciate that reset.

Rena Clark 2:35 I love that also for our students, our kids, or even if we’ve had a rough day with somebody else who can reset.

Rena Clark 2:43 Our guest today is Dr. Aliber Lozano, and Dr. Lozano is the head of teaching and learning at AVID. So welcome to the podcast.

Paul Beckermann 2:52 Thanks, Rena. Hey, welcome, Aliber.

Rena Clark 2:55 Thanks, Paul. Thanks, Winston. I’m happy to be here. So you can just tell us a little bit more about yourself and your role in supporting alumni here at AVID.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 3:07 Sure, be happy to. So I’ve been an educator for over 28 years now, and directly working in some AVID capacity for over 20 years. As a first-generation college goer, I’m able to connect with our AVID family and our AVID alumni, as they too, like myself, are serving in many firsts. So when the opportunity came to make sure that we extended our mission and lived our mission, ensuring that all were prepared and ready to be successful in college and career, boy, did AVID come answering the call, because that meant all. And we’re doing it in our K through 12 system. But what did it mean for us to do it in college and career, in our Alumni Services?

And one of the many ways we’re doing this is through our podcast, AVIDly Adulting. I think you all were talking about the way I close the podcast, which talks about being good today and being okay with that, because that’s enough. And I really want to make sure, especially today, but even yesterday or in the futures of tomorrow, at the end of the day, when you reflect on it, you’ve got to realize that that’s enough and feel really good about it, even if you failed, however you’re measuring success, even if you were successful, because that was good enough.

And we’re always thinking about what I’m going to do tomorrow, with that metacognition and just having the ability to breathe in heavily and breathe out. And sometimes that heavy breathing in heavily is very heavy, and sometimes it’s celebratory. And knowing that tomorrow, whether you were not successful or you were very successful, that we’re going to be better if we do it together. So invite someone else into your community. Build that collective, that collective agency, so that you can amplify your voice. And if you are struggling, solve it together. And if you are succeeding, then breed more success together and amplify it.

So it’s a wonderful opportunity that I get to have at AVID as the head of teaching and learning and building learning environments and learning teaching products and program services for adults, so they can then have and share with their students, give them tools to be successful, and then extend that now to our young adults who are in college, and our young adults who are entering career, and many for the first time. And it’s a great way to connect with AVID schools, AVID educators, AVID alumni, and you’re going to see that good teaching and learning is universal. And we can’t wait for you to be an AVID, but if you’re not there yet, it’s still good teaching and learning, and it’s universal. It’s a little bit about myself.

Winston Benjamin 5:55 I really appreciate the way you’re talking about it, because I can hear the joy for kids, I can hear the joy for students’ futures, and the thing that I really appreciated was the idea of celebrating, right? I’m celebrating your failures or your success today and tomorrow. But the biggest thing in our system is they graduate.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 6:17 Right? So there’s a natural break in our ability to support and be there with students during that time of success or failures. So can you give me a couple of reasons why you feel that it’s important to support graduates after they leave our K through 12 system, right? What are some of the reasons why that’s important? Yeah, Winston, lots of reasons for us to continue to connect schools with our graduates after they leave that K through 12 school system.

But I want to focus, and I want to focus on something you just said, and even notice that change in transition instead of “but,” saying “and” makes a big difference in the world. I was having dinner with a couple last night, and their young adult son dropped out of college, and these are two professionals, and they were speaking it with us with a little bit of embarrassment.

And I said, “I want to celebrate that, because he shared that with you, and came back home. That means he’s struggling and trying to make better.” And they just flipped. They said, “We didn’t realize that people are able to celebrate failure.” It’s the only way that you’re going to come out to whatever is defined success going out there.

So as schools are trying to connect and continue being connected with graduates, it’s really important in this transition into adulthood, because they’re navigating their independence. And that connection helps us stay connected to them. And also, as they’re leaving, there are a lot of emotional challenges, because there’s this accountability, whether it’s to your peers every day, the same ones, or to the adults in those school systems, the same ones. And just as in your careers, in school, you spend most waking hours in your school, K through 12, same thing career. So it’s important to remain connected so they realize there’s that connection, and they build that skill set, that persistence, and those tools needed to move and transition into adulthood, especially as high schools prepare our students for college readiness and career preparation.

We’re seeing that more and more often: that K through 12 school systems are preparing them to go straight into career because they’re allowing dual enrollment, concurrent enrollment, certification courses. And it’s going to be difficult to navigate that independence and those emotional changes that I talked about earlier.

Financial literacy is huge, especially whether they’re going straight into career or into college. And if some are fortunate to get scholarships or financial aid, realizing that that’s going to take you through an entire semester or quarter, and you can’t spend it all at once.

And so it’s really important for those schools to stay connected to their graduates. And the other opportunities that we always talk about is access and opportunity, especially for those who are first generation. And with first generation come challenges, because they don’t have a network of someone who was there in before. So when schools stay connected to their alumni, those K through 12 systems where they graduate, their high school Alma Mater, they can have a mentor. They can reach out to their teacher. They can reach out, if the schools form communities, to their peers that can make sure that they have—or they have more chance of—success as they transition from that school and that school system and the systemic approach for social and academic support, because if it was systemic, they’re going to carry those tools and that learned behavior with them.

So it’s really important to still maintain connected, and not just through reunions. And reunions are really great and social, but reunions will also then build those networks. Lastly, I want to say and emphasize the lack of social capital that comes with first generation. And when schools stay connected, that means you’re connected to that community, and there’s an access to resources, especially with graduates from low-income backgrounds that aren’t aware that your community has all of these systems to help you, not just that are on a college campus, but if you go straight to career, and those kind of experience that kind of social capital as an anchor to that community that schools are, is really helpful.

As schools stay connected to their graduates, you’re going to see that come back tenfold in return, if you build that community and that connectivity and that behavior that not is dependent in one another, but it’s interdependent, because these are the citizens that are going to come back and feed your community, or if they move to some other part of the world, hybrid, face-to-face, or virtually, nurture that community with what you gave them.

Paul Beckermann 11:36 I love that idea of that community that continues on, and I never thought of it really in terms of the first generation and how it’s really amplified for that group, because they have a smaller social network and support network maybe to do that, and how it amplifies the need for them. That’s good insight for me to kind of think about there.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 11:56 Paul, I will tell you, I’m speaking to you all today because of that, being first generation Latino from South Texas, where there are few resources. I was fortunate that mentors, educators in my life, sought me out, and that when I was going to graduate school, that application was placed in front of me and said, “Fill this out,” whether it’s for my masters or my doctorate, because they kept on saying, “What’s next?” I didn’t know that those were the possibilities. I didn’t know that I had those dreams.

But that’s the case, and I’m going to leave that for there had been no one in my family, except for my sister, has gone there, but I still distinctly remember telling my parents, my dad, who, by the way, I’m Junior and who has a third-grade education from Mexico, and my mom, who had eighth-grade education from United States, that I had defended successfully my dissertation, that I was Dr. Aliber Lozano. And my mom started just crying, and it was a deep moan that I hadn’t heard before. And I asked her, “Why are you crying?” And she said, “I am so embarrassed. I am shameful that I did not have that dream for you.”

And this is why this entire journey, for the last five years, we knew we were going through this, but it became very real to her. And then what was more powerful: when you have these mentors that do this for you, they help you change the trajectory of your families. But she said, “Now I have this dream for my grandchildren.” And that was the difference. And that’s a lot of what happens in first generation, not just going to college and having these milestones that are related to education, but they’re related to careers as well.

It was huge for me to move Texas to California, especially in a first-generation family, and you give them the answer why. And for many times, as a first person to hold his career, you are the retirement for your parents, who I said earlier, did not plan accordingly, because they didn’t have the schools, the tool set, or the know-how to do so.

Paul Beckermann 14:09 So this is much bigger than an individual.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 14:12 And to not think that is much bigger than you, then you’re taking a wrong step. It’s a small step for mankind, not a giant step for mankind. This is much bigger than all of us. Nice.

Paul Beckermann 14:26 So you’ve alluded to some of this, as in your other answers, Aliber, but as you’ve worked with graduates and supporting them past high school, what are some of the specific challenges that you see them facing?

Dr. Aliber Lozano 14:41 So as we were working with alumni, the challenges that we see them facing are going to be threefold. I’m going to repeat some of them instead of going through the long list. It’s going to begin with financial challenges, because for many of these graduates, a lot of them are going to be first generation, not all of them. It is going to be about student loans, and it’s one of the things that we talk about in AVIDly Adulting: savings and investments. And how soon can you start paying those off? Budgeting.

And so what does it mean to be house poor when you over-buy, when you over-purchase what you can’t really afford to do, and you don’t get to enjoy those things in life that you and your partner, your family, can do because you’re so invested in a huge investment, which is your house? Do you rent, or do you buy? So having those type of conversations that go beyond student loans, but loans that you’ll need to live life, to do adulting, if you will, are some of those.

The other ones are going to be the social and emotional challenges. Many of our graduates, our alumni, if you will, don’t have networks. They don’t know somebody who knows somebody that can get me an interview. And sometimes that’s all you need, is that interview, because then you can then sell yourselves based on your personality, your skill set, your education, your training. But they don’t have those networks as they’re going into those careers. So that kind of is one of the challenges they feel. So, as talking into the earlier question of what K through 12 schools can do, is starting to build that network of systems as you prepare for college and career. The other one is going to be mental health.

One of the big benefits of today is that there’s still a negative stigma and a taboo when you talk about mental health, but that is being mitigated. It’s now in our vernacular, and anxiety and stress and depression are prevalent. And we need tools, just like we were talking about earlier, whether you’re eating healthy or that you’re exercising, to stay healthy, you also have to exercise the mental health muscle every day, and whether that is talking to someone as a friend, doing metacognition on your own, doing meditation or mindfulness, or any form of exercise that you’re doing that can ease anxiety, stress, and that can lead to depression. Those are the kind of things that we’re seeing face today, especially for those who move away for career or move away for college, and they leave those communities. How do I build those networks and communities when I move, whether with my partner, or the business or social communities there?

The last thing that I’m going to talk about as a challenge, is the imposter syndrome. Another plug for AVIDly Adulting: we talk about the imposter syndrome because some graduates feel they don’t belong and aren’t prepared for those next steps, whether they’re going to college or career, especially when they don’t see themselves in those spaces. And they may not be looking because they are blinded by that fear, and they can’t go beyond the fear, and sometimes there’s other people, your communities, if you just reach out.

So we need to make sure that as students are leaving the K through 12 systems, they know how to network, and they know how to lead with questions, because then those questions will lead to some of the solutions that have to do with the financial challenges that I’ve talked about, the social emotional challenges that I talked about, and that you really did earn that space, and it’s okay that you don’t know everything right now, because you have a skill set, and that’s leading with inquiry, so you are not an imposter. You are setting yourself up for success for asking those questions, especially in those entry-level jobs, because you’re now in career. But that’s the biggest challenges I’m seeing when we’re talking to alumni in general that they’re facing today.

Winston Benjamin 19:12 And just to jump in, there’s another thing I think about the imposter syndrome that’s important: is to have our students recognize that the other side is also impostering, right? They don’t know how to play the game either, and they’re just acting out. So having a mentor will help them not only up-play their own abilities, but also downplay others, so that they recognize that they are on an even playing field, right? And I think that some of the dangers of the imposter syndrome is that you not only downplay yourself, but you elevate the other person’s abilities so much more. So I love that you questioned that part of their challenges. Winston, that’s part of the hidden curriculum. Yeah.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 20:00 That those who have network or established, and I’m going to use the word privileged, but I want to say that they—in this case, sometimes what your family and what everybody else has worked for—you should be proud of that. And that is a privilege in a positive, connotative way. But it is part of the hidden curriculum that when somebody’s in that, they start at the same career.

But I’ve talked to students, college students who are in Ivy League colleges or state institutions, and they feel the imposter syndrome, especially when they have the opportunity to go to an Ivy League or a very elite school. They recognize that the other students went to prep schools, and they forget that they’ve been prepared and have earned that spot just as well. And they elevate those, and so they take a step back instead of taking a step forward and building, “How can I learn from you that you’ve been prepped this way?” And “Let me let you learn from me.” But it happens very often that I take a step back and elevate the others who have learned the hidden curriculum of staying positive and being confident and still being inquisitive, versus when you’re an imposter, you tend to shy away, close up, and only question yourself and not question outwardly.

Rena Clark 21:21 And Winston, you mentioned mentor. Aliber, you mentioned several different resources, strategies, preparing students and even the podcast AVIDly Adulting. But really as students exit, what are some of the strategies, or what are some things out there that are there to support alumni?

Dr. Aliber Lozano 21:45 Well, one of the things that we’re doing at AVID to support alumni is, as we estimate that AVID alumni, that there’s about a million out in the world network since the first grad. A million alumni. Imagine the mobilization that can happen when we get them all together and know what their passion and their drive is, because we know they persist. We know that they’ve overcome obstacles of many kinds to be where they are today.

So there’s about a million alumni, so we’ve just launched a couple of years ago, and the first challenge is to identify them, right? And how do we then put them in a system where they’re not only talking to each other, and realize, “I didn’t realize it. My teacher didn’t create this in Orlando.” No, it’s in 8,000 schools across the world, because we’re in the Department of Defense, we’re in Australia, we’re in Canada, the U.S. Virgin Islands. So one of the things is to identify them, so they can then work with each other to build that network. And they will be able to identify each other based on the state they’re from. They will be able to identify and connect with each other because they have the same career. They’re starting a family, they’re buying a home.

So that’s our first challenge. We’ve identified over 17,000, which is a good start, but we have a long ways to go to get to a million. The other way that we want to make sure is that we started the AVIDly Adulting. But there’s also our avid.org/alumni page, where there are some resources while they’re in college so that they don’t forget some of the tools that they learned K through 12, but also some career talk about wellness that we talked about earlier, financial aid as we talked about earlier. So those are some of the things that we’re doing.

But networking is key, and those apprenticeships that are key. And I think the more that organizational systems like schools are doing, the better that they are preparing students for career awareness, career exploration, career preparation, and career training. Those are going to be key of what we can be doing for schools and for alumni, specifically as we move forward, and help them succeed in college, career, and life, connected to institutions like AVID and, more importantly, connected to each other, and how to connect to the other organizations that they’re with, whether they’re with their company or with their college, and seeking those benefits that come with being part of those communities is, I think, the first key in making sure that alumni know and have these strategies to be successful.

Winston Benjamin 24:38 Yes, absolutely, that’s a million people. Wild number to reach, right? That’s a wild number to reach. And then you think about that, if you were just specifically thinking about education, just K through 12, there’s so many more individuals who’ve actually gone through our system. So my question to you is: How may K through 12 support the students that are currently there as they prepare for graduation? You’ve definitely gone through a lot of the conversation about how to support alumni right after they’ve graduated, but what are some of the ways that schools can support their kids in thinking about what are the steps that they take? How do they build, for example, how do they build networking skills?

Dr. Aliber Lozano 25:22 Yeah, and that really is a loaded question, right? Because how many years, and given the administrations that we continually have, we try to solve that question, which is, ultimately, how do we best prepare our students to be ready and successful for college, career, and I’m going to add their end life? And we do that through educators. So schools do what they do best, which they need to continue to support by doing so in tackling that problem of practice that we’re trying to solve. You do that by making sure that’s a problem of practice that never ends. And you do that by making sure that your teachers, your educators, your leaders, everyone in that community in that system, continues ongoing with professional learning.

And part of that professional learning is, of course, having the growth mindset. As you all know, I’m Latino, and it’s those teachers making sure that they have a growth mindset and they don’t attach the Bo decito complex, which can be tied to any ethnicity, which is, “I feel sorry for them. Why am I going to challenge Winston, Rena, Paul, or Aliber? Because, fill in the blank, they come from a one-parent house only. They don’t have money. It’s the first. So why would we introduce them to courses of rigor and have them even study late night when they don’t have those resources? Why would we challenge them for these academic skills or tools that are needed for these industries or careers?”

So I think that’s one of the things, is just having that growth mindset, so that you challenge those students, and then the students get to make the choice. So it is by design that you’re giving choices and you’re not being selective. So I think that continues to be an anchor of how we best prepare, or how high schools or K through 12 students best prepare, because that’s building student agency.

What AVID does already is starting in elementary, and people are surprised. “You’re talking to students in elementary about college and career?” Not only are we talking to them, but we’re giving them tools that help them prepare those durable skills, working in collaborative groups. You’re going to need that whether you’re working collaboratively, as we are virtually, or whether you’re working in an office space to get ahead, both in their job, their K through 12 job, which is being a student—sometimes they’ll have a part-time job—but also when they move into their actual jobs that we know about.

So building student agency is the other one, the “I hope, I dream that I’m going to be this.” But if you don’t add to it the application of actions, giving them the behaviors and the skills necessary to be able to test and meet those dreams, those hopes, along their career journey of K through 12, that’s the other component of it, having a growth mindset and making sure you feed and nurture student agency, which is building that dream. But that dream needs to stand with realistic scaffolding and testing of those scaffoldings with tools and learnings that apply. So in the end, when they leave 12th grade into a career or into college, they have the right tools, or better tools, to understand what their next step in that journey is going to be.

Rena Clark 28:55 I just want to chime in, because I’ve been working, and there’s a real difference between scaffolding up versus watering down. And we talked about professional learning, and how valuable that is to really understand the difference and still have those high expectations for all of our students. So I appreciate you talking about that.

Paul Beckermann 29:18 Rena, that’s a T-shirt. Scaffold up. Don’t water down. I like it. It’s a big difference in understanding the difference. That’s huge, right? No, I love that. I’m serious.

Paul Beckermann 29:23 All right. Aliber, we should have asked this question probably a while ago, because we’ve been alluding to it throughout the podcast. But you have a new podcast that you are the host of, called AVIDly Adulting. You want to tell us what it’s about a little bit, what inspired it, who should listen to this? Just tell us a little more about the podcast.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 29:49 Sure. We all know adulting is hard.

Winston Benjamin 29:55 Still.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 29:58 That’s right.

Rena Clark 30:00 Winston!

Dr. Aliber Lozano 30:04 Let’s go back to how we started the podcast. Adulting is hard, and so you did good today, and that is enough. And so adulting is part of what does it look like tomorrow, in however you are in your adulting space. What we aim to do with AVIDly Adulting is to reach alumni, that million that are out there, but even being more focused, because we know, much as you set up in your educational career, and a lot is determined by third grade, we also want to reach and parallel that in your first or second year of your job in your professional career. We want to give you more tools, tying back to our mission, to ensuring career success that are going to target skills, change in behavior, mental and physical wellness. And so it is aimed at your first and second year professional, but you’re going to find out that these topics are universal.

In fact, when I’m interviewing these alumni, I go back and I apply some of these behaviors. We had one about establishing your digital brand and LinkedIn. You better make sure that that alumni who worked at LinkedIn gave these first and second year alumni tips. Well, I went back to make sure that I applied those tips.

And it’s a reminder, Winston, when we were talking earlier about the imposter syndrome, when I launched AVIDly Adulting, I hadn’t led a podcast and I had not participated in one. So talk about imposter syndrome, about launching something that has the ability to reach so many who, as we said earlier, can change the trajectory of the communities that they lived in or are now living in.

That’s what AVIDly Adulting is: learning from these alumni who are part of many firsts. Yes, many of them are first college to go to college, but they’re sharing their firsts about buying a home. They’re sharing their firsts about having a family. They’re sharing their firsts of how to tell their boss “No.” They’re sharing their firsts about what it really means to have work-life balance. As I said, these topics are universal, and while we have the first or second or third year alumni that we’re targeting, I’m still struggling to find work-life balance, and struggling means at least I haven’t given up, and that’s the part what AVIDly Adulting is, making sure they don’t give up because they learn to be persistent and to resist giving up. And that’s just the reminder at the end. And that’s why I always try to say, what you did today was good, and that was enough. Tomorrow, we’re going to get greater together.

That’s what AVIDly Adulting is. That’s the crowd that we’re aiming in. The topics are universal. So as you try to help us find alumni, get them to listen to the AVIDly Adulting, the more that listen, the more that we can find those million, and the more that we can continue doing this movement called AVID, which is making sure that people have opportunities—all people have opportunities, all students—to live their fullest life, their fullest potential. And sometimes that means changing careers, as is one of the things that’s happening now and one of the topics that we’ll talk in a future AVIDly Adulting podcast: how to successfully change careers, which is something that didn’t happen during our time, but is happening more and more often, especially as new careers we’ve never heard of are being created almost daily.

Rena Clark 33:45 I appreciate that, and even in our own podcast, we’ve had the luxury. What is her name? We had her on.

Paul Beckermann 33:54 Jesula.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 33:55 I know Jesula. She’s from Orlando, yes. Now I don’t know all 1 million alumni, by the way, but I know Jesula.

Rena Clark 34:03 Yes, I don’t know all 1 million yet. Well, you got one at least. My point being that even on our own podcast, we had Jesula, who talked about how her connection really helped her launch into career because of that network, that alumni, and how it helped her. And that was just a side success story. So I’m just wondering, Aliber, if there are any other maybe little success stories, I know it will come up on your podcast about graduates who really benefited from staying connected after graduation.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 34:35 Yes, and we can start talking about individuals like Jesula, who have stayed connected. And I can talk about Isaias, and I can talk about Jonathan, we can talk about individuals. But Rena, there’s going to be themes to this. And the theme is that, purposefully, we created in the AVID elective class, and in those AVID schools, the ability for these students to form a community to make sure that they find like-minded individuals, and let me just tell you, unlike-minded individuals, because those are just as important to learn from and grow from, and making sure that they have that ability to build those networks.

So I talked about that was a challenge earlier in the podcast, but that’s what we want, that connectivity that we know that successful graduate stories or alumni stories are talking about. I interviewed someone just recently, and Janet was talking about how Myra, who is an AVID alumni, was a real estate person, and Myra helped her navigate how to buy your first house—all of the paperwork and what you have to do, and the patience and the negotiation that you have to do.

So staying connected to your community are the success stories that we can have. And I can’t wait to be able to name all 1 million and tell you those 1 million, but I guarantee you the theme is they were connected to someone, whether it was their teacher or their professor or another one of their students, or running into someone who went to their school but they didn’t know, and they have a chance to reconnect as adults, and that’s how they stay connected and grow together. And really, the way we get to be great together tomorrow, by building that community.

So lots of individual stories that we can name, but I really wanted to talk about the theme of it, which is, open your world to community, and that community will become your world, and the impact that you will be able to have is really going to be, to be a cliché, out of this world, because you were impacted by the educational systems that included AVID and included wonderful people, and you’re going to be out there then to be able to replicate and give wonderful back.

Talking about giving back, Paul, the most things that I like is when those alumni come back and tell their stories into their communities, because we always hear teachers say, “You’re going to need this for the real world,” right? I heard that all the time. Isn’t it great when the real world comes into your classroom and talks about giving back? So that’s the other thing that we motivate our alumni to do, is to tell the stories. And now, through virtual, they can go in, if they live in Orlando, like Jesula, she can talk to someone in Australia virtually and say how this is the real world and give back by sharing their story.

And of course, if they’ve moved from there to go to college or to go to career, look up AVID and see what schools have AVID and on Fridays, especially, educators are always wanting to make sure the real world comes in, and the students get to learn and see themselves or see a part of themselves in those stories to be successful and be wonderful themselves, too.

Paul Beckermann 38:14 I love it. Yeah, those stories are gifts, for sure. They’re also tools, because we can learn from them. So let’s jump into our toolkit.

Transition Music with Rena’s Children 38:24 Check it out. Check it out. Check it out. Check it out. What’s in the toolkit? Check it out.

Rena Clark 38:38 All right, Tool Time. Rena, why don’t you start us off? Well, we alluded to it several times with the AVIDly Adulting podcast, but specifically I want to call it Episode Two. You talked about using LinkedIn. So we had LinkedIn as a social media tool. And specifically in Episode Two, I know that Jasmine Garcia gives some early career playbooks for the LinkedIn edition, so check that out.

Paul Beckermann 39:04 Nice. Winston, what do you got?

Winston Benjamin 39:06 I am not the best at keeping connections with people that I’ve gone through life with in the past, so because of this episode, I am realizing that I am a toolkit, so I’m going to start purposely reaching out and building my connections with my peers. And that’s something I think other teachers can really maintain, because sometimes you’re like, “Oh, I’ve only done education. I only know educators.” But when I went to college, I was a friend who was going to be a mechanical engineer. So if I maintain those connections, I’ll be able to allow my students to also have those connections. So I think recognizing that my own power as a part in this point is something that really is sticking with me.

Paul Beckermann 39:58 All right, all right. I’m going to cheat and say AVIDly Adulting podcast. I’m going to put in a plug for that. You can go to AVID Open access.org. There’s actually a collection. So if you go to the AVID Open Access website, click on the Resources tab, go to collections, you will find a collection in there specifically for the AVID Adulting podcast. So you can get just to the list of podcasts. From there, you can also go to your favorite podcast platform and look for it, AVIDly Adulting. I think you’re going to like what you hear.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 40:33 Aliber, we’re going to invite you to join in here too. Do you have anything you’d like to sprinkle into our toolkit? I do. One of the things, especially that I’m listening and hearing from our college alumni is they’re forgetting to fill out their FAFSA applications again. So one of the toolkits that I want to offer is go to studentaid.gov so that you can continue getting those resources to get you into the career of your choice. And I really appreciate the shout-outs for the AVIDly Adulting podcast. And I mentioned it earlier, but avid.org/alumni has some resources, including the resource of how to get alumni into our network, so the 17,000 can grow to a million. So show that QR code or give that link to alumni that you’re running into. And I can’t wait, Rena, I like the shout-out to LinkedIn. There are some new things that we’re working with LinkedIn because, of course, we have our alumni in there that’s coming down the pipeline. So stay tuned. Stay connected to avid.org/alumni, and you’re going to get more resources coming your way.

Paul Beckermann 41:47 Cliffhanger.

Winston Benjamin 41:49 It’s now time for that one thing.

Transition Music 42:00 Time for that one thing. It’s that one thing, one thing.

Winston Benjamin 42:01 It’s that one thing, one thing. What’s the one thing that you’re still thinking about as you’re mulling through this conversation? Paul, what are you thinking about? What’s your one thing?

Paul Beckermann 42:15 A million AVID alumni. It’s bigger than the individual, this connection, this community, it’s far greater than any one of us. And I know that when we graduate, when we’re struggling with adulting, it feels like we’re alone. We are not alone. This is bigger than the individual, and that’s really sticking with me today. Rena.

Rena Clark 42:41 And on a similar note, I was thinking about how you can’t really amplify your voice if you don’t have anyone to listen. So it’s really about finding your community, and that we do have a lot of listeners here that are part of the AVID community, but maybe you’re not, and you’re just thinking of some other kind of community that you’re a part of. But thinking about finding those communities, seeking them out. What are your networks? Who are your people? And we always talk about relationships. So how can you amplify your voice? How can you create those networks? Because there always is someone there to listen.

Winston Benjamin 43:21 Yeah, I appreciate that. That is very true. There’s always someone there to listen. And I think for me, the thing that’s really sticking to me is this idea that by building our students’ network and maintaining their connection to the local place that they’re from, prevents the brain drain and lack of resources that other students who are from those communities are facing. Because instead of saying you have to go somewhere to be great, they can also see greatness in their own community. So I think that’s an important thing that I think is here that I’m hearing through this is, how do we support our students to know that they are good enough from where they’re at and they don’t have to compare themselves negatively to the other side? And I think that’s dealing with that imposter syndrome that Aliber discussed earlier. So I really appreciate just having that ability to think about that. Aliber, anything else you would like to drop for us, or something you’d like to add for us to walk away with?

Dr. Aliber Lozano 44:27 I’ll join you. I mean, I again, I think I learned more from the questions and the commentary that you were providing me. So I was a learner in here, too.

What I have, my takeaway is this is Unpacking Education podcast. We may have 1 million alumni. Now think about the number of teachers that those 1 million alumni experience. We as educators are a community that is countless. And just as your top of the mountain, you can’t even see to the other side of how many we are. So we need to listen, because we are being heard. I still remember what was said from my educators to me. We need to make sure that we rely on each other because we become exhausted. We are tired sometimes, so that brain drain.

Talk about this educational community that we have to refuel ourselves and the responsibility and accountability that we have to each other to be able to do so, because if we don’t love ourselves, then how are we going to love our profession? And yes, sometimes this word is not used in education, but how do we love then our students? So love ourselves as a community, because we’re millions and millions and millions strong as we continue to move forward, listen to each other, and connect as a community, so that we can then give to the future, and that is to the current young and young adults and even professionals who are looking back to us and to you for advice on how to move forward. So just astounded by the ability and capability and untouched potential in educator leaders. As we unpack education.

Paul Beckermann 46:32 I want to stand up and cheer now.

Rena Clark 46:35 We need your clacker.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 46:36 Woo Hoo!

Dr. Aliber Lozano 46:37 I’ll leave you with this, because once you get me started, you can’t stop, Rena, Winston, and Paul. I was talking to a colleague of mine a decade, and I still remember what she said. We were in the office, and Tiffany comes out of our office, and she’s like, I said, “Tiffany, what are you so happy about?” She’s like, “Why can’t we be like professional NFL players? Because after every play, they’re given high fives.” So, I just sent an email, so I’m going to go up and cheer. And that’s the little things add up to the big things so that we can be big-time happy. And the converse happens as well. We can’t let those little sad things add up so that they can become big things for us.

So stand up and cheer. Cheer for educators. Cheer for the community because they, like so many today, and we hear this word, are also the first responders, and they are first responders every single day in the times that we are having a difficult time as a location, geographically, as a state, as a nation, as a world. But they’re also first responders to identify the potential in each one of their peers together, and also our students and the guardians of those students that come in and out of those classrooms. So cheer at every single play, because the more we can celebrate, the more impact we can do collectively.

Rena Clark 48:09 I love. Well, here’s our cheer, and we really appreciate you joining our community today, again, Dr. Aliber Lozano, and check out the other AVID podcast, AVIDly Adulting. And, Aliber, you did a good job today, and that’s enough.

Winston Benjamin 48:20 We did it together. There we go.

Rena Clark 48:23 Thanks for listening to Unpacking Education. We invite you to visit us at avidopenaccess.org, where you can discover resources to support student agency, equity, and academic tenacity to create a classroom for future-ready learners.

Paul Beckermann 48:40 We’ll be back here next Wednesday for a fresh episode of Unpacking Education.

Rena Clark 48:45 And remember, go forth and be awesome.

Winston Benjamin 48:48 Thank you for all you do.

Paul Beckermann 48:50 You make a difference.