She said her immigrant parents from the Dominican Republic – her mom a high school graduate and her dad, who completed third grade – “never helped me with my homework assignments or seemed to enjoy reading or learning themselves.”

But during her high school years, she said, a program that encourages low-income children to attend college ignited an educational spark in her. That is when she decided she wanted to become the first in her family to go to college and learn about social work so she could combat social injustices in today’s world.

“Being in the Upward Bound program in high school, I met people who were struggling with problems I knew existed in other people’s lives, but I did not expect to be happening to my peers,” said the 22-year-old ����ֱ�� senior who has lived in Orlando since she was 5.

“This really opened my eyes and it made me realize that I’d like to help people have their needs met. These past couple of years, there have been a lot of social-justice movements and issues that have been getting time in the spotlight and I love seeing people get together to advocate for a cause. It has also made me more aware of the micro aggressions, discrimination and limitations placed on minorities.”

Soon after Tejada told her college plans to her parents – a public school “cafeteria lady” and a restaurant cook in south Orlando – the news seemed to also ignite an educational spark in them, too.

“My mother would take me to as many Upward Bound events and workshops as she could,” she said. “Once I started going to college, my father would brag to his coworkers and friends about how his first-born is studying hard and would graduate with a college degree.”

At first she said she had no examples or knowledge about college.

“I didn’t know what a college campus looked like, what college life was like, how to apply for college, what a scholarship, grant and loan were, and so many other things about college,” she said. But the Upward Bound workshops and out-of-state conferences opened her eyes to what would be possible at UCF.

Tejada next earned her AA at Valencia College and used the DirectConnect to UCF program to transition to the university. The program guarantees admission to UCF with an associate degree from one of the university’s partner state colleges.

She said she chose UCF because she wanted to stay close to home and help her family. She lives with her mother and two sisters, one of whom is a high-functioning autistic 20-year-old with ADHD.

“My mother works two jobs, so there’s really no time for her to relax and take care of things in the household or my youngest sister,” Tejada said.

She also works as a student assistant in the campus TRiO office, which helps prepare low-income/potential first-generation college students for successful entry and retention in post-secondary education. One of her responsibilities is providing campus tours for TRiO programs that visit from other colleges and universities.

“She does a fantastic job shepherding the groups across campus,” said Rebekah McCloud, director of the TRiO programs in Student Development and Enrollment Services. ”She deftly intersperses her story as a first-generation college student into the narrative about UCF. She generously shares what she didn’t know about going to college, what she learned and what she wished she had known.”

Working in the office, Tejada said, has helped build her confidence to talk to people and gain skills in time management, social engagement, business, networking, public speaking and presentation.

Also during her time on campus she has become a LEAD scholar, UCF Cares ambassador, a member of the Bachelors of Social Work Student Association, and has participated in Volunteer UCF opportunities and events.

In addition to all her on-campus activities, she is interning with the Orlando Youth Advocate Program Inc., which provides children the opportunity to develop and be of value to their community. The program connects youths with caring adults and provides opportunities for them to assume leadership roles and learn healthy behaviors.

“We hold activities for children in the program that help them understand that there are other ways we can react to a stressful situations and how to be able to avoid conflict,” she said.

Despite all her many activities, she said she’s “not as involved as I would have liked to be, but I feel that I have done the most that I could with the time and energy that I had.”

She now plans to graduate this spring with a bachelor’s degree in social work.

After graduation she plans to work in the social-work field for three to five years to gain experience and then pursue a master’s degree once she knows what specialization she would like to focus on.

“She has blossomed into a very capable young woman,” said McCloud in the TRiO office. “She��is always a helper, always a listener, and now she is ready to step into a career as a social worker. She is bound to make a difference in the world.”

He’s 25 and I thought to myself: Back in what day? Back in the day for him was five years ago.

Most of his conversation centered on technology. He talked about getting used to devices such as smart phones, tablets and video games.

He talked about how social media has changed the way people communicate. He talked about changes in the classroom, such as the use of graphing calculators, clickers, eBooks and web courses.

Indeed, he has seen some changes.

I have thought about our conversation many times and it makes me smile. I compared my first year in college nearly 45 years ago to his.

When did technology become such an integral part of our language and the way we view the world?

For someone in my generation, this is scary and thrilling at the same time. In the 1960s, I read and watched science fiction about the future. George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World were books that made me think “what if and what then.”

Gene Roddenberry’s TV show, Star Trek, talked about a time in the future, such as stardate 2016. It seemed so far away. But it’s here!

Roddenberry didn’t quite get all of the technology right. But as I think about it, just like today, most of the conversations by the characters—Capt. Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy and Mr. Scott—were laced with tech terms (warp speed, transporter, food replicator, photon torpedoes, phasers, holodeck and tricorder, to name a few).

After my conversation with my student, I started making a list of technology-related terms that crossed my path. In just two weeks, I’m up to 75 terms from “aggregator” to “Zip drive.”

I’m sure there are many more that I didn’t jot down. And, who knows, I just might embrace tech speak and utilize it in my conversations more often…or not.

Nevertheless, I think scientist Roy Amara, past president of the Institute for the Future, had it right: “We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.”

Rebekah McCloud is director of the ����ֱ��’s PRIME STEM/Student Support Services Program. She can be reached at Rebekah.McCloud@ucf.edu.

The program offers academic support services and resources to assist PRIME STEM scholars to successfully complete a STEM degree. As an advocate for access to higher education, PRIME STEM/Student Support Services is committed to providing the support necessary to empower participants in developing and achieving academic goals. PRIME is an acronym that means Purpose + Reach = Individuals Measured for Excellence.

The program has been very successful since its inception in 2010.:

Program Director Rebekah McCloud attributes the program’s success to an amazing staff and the comprehensive programming provided to participants. “We do everything from helping students to select courses, consider career options, find internships, prepare for interviews, engage in extracurricular activities, create budgets and set goals. Additionally, we provide peer mentoring and individualized tutoring.”

PRIME STEM/Student Support Services is the only STEM program on campus that supports students from freshman through senior year.

We chatted for a couple of stops and then she got off of the train. As soon as the doors closed and the train took off, the woman who was sitting directly in front of me said, “Did you see the color of her hair?” I did; it was blue. I pretended not to hear my fellow rider. She asked again and this time she tapped my foot with her cane and spoke in a slightly raised voice, “Did you see the color of her hair?” I did; it was blue.

Not getting a response from me a second time, she said to the woman sitting next to her, “She must be deaf.”

I responded, “I’m not and I did; it was blue.”

“Well, what color is that for hair? It’s not natural.”

“I imagine,” I said, “that young woman selected a hair color she liked. Perhaps she chose a color that made her feel good, adventurous, rebellious, artsy, young…who knows. It was her choice.”

“Would you let your daughter color her hair blue?”

“Maybe,” I said, as I gave the bottle blonde who appeared to be in her 80s an appraising look.

“Well, I wouldn’t. That’s what’s wrong with young people today.”

And so it began. I listened to the woman and the one next to her talk about the woes of the world caused by young people. According to her, young people are slovenly, unpatriotic, uncouth, unkempt, not as smart as young people in her time, and many of them look weird.

I did my best to tune out the conversation, but I could not dismiss the prejudice of her words. Nor could I dismiss the thoughts of myself 40 years ago when I was about the same age as the young woman with the blue hair.

While my hair was not blue, my eye shadow was. Peacock blue was my favorite color. My lips were always colored a vibrant red with Revlon No. 440—Cherries in the Snow (which had replaced the white lipstick I had used prior). I guess you could say I looked weird. I wore micro-miniskirts, platform shoes (or go-go boots) and psychedelic shirts. When I looked in the mirror, it said I looked hot—not weird.

But I have to admit, now when I look at some of the television shows and movies from the 60s and 70s, what we called “high fashion” then just looks weird now. I often have laugh-out-loud moments when I look at old pictures of myself. I dare say that if my fellow train passenger would look back on herself 40, 50 or 60 years ago, she might have a laugh-out-loud moment, too.

Possibly 50 or 60 years ago she may have known a blue-haired woman. It may have been her grandmother. Older women in that era often had their beauticians use blue, green or pink ROUX Fanci-ful Hair Color Rinse. My grandma did; her hair was sometimes blue, but most often green.

As I tried to tune out the women’s conversation, I also could not dismiss the thoughts of myself 20+ years ago when I was a high school teacher. I’ll never forget the first four students who walked into my classroom on the first day of school one year.

The first one was dressed from head to toe in black, including a black dress, black lipstick, eye shadow and nail polish; and I could not tell if the student was a he or a she. He taught me all about the “goth” movement and the need for self-expression. I guess one could say he looked weird.

The second one was dressed in a kilt, complete with a sporran and a sgian-dubh (a traditional knife that was confiscated posthaste by the school dean). He fancied himself as a follower of Duncan MacLeod, a fictional character from the television show “Highlander.” This student was creative and had a brilliant mind. I guess one could say he looked weird.

The third student was dressed like “RoboCop.” He never ceased to amaze me. Every week he would come in dressed in some getup that he had assembled as a conversation starter. His outfits included a full cavalry uniform, Bip the Clown (made famous by French mime Marcel Marceau), and Pee-wee Herman. He was an extrovert with a capital E. He once told me that if people would talk, we could solve all of our problems. I guess one could say he looked weird.

The fourth student had spiked hair and an earring that was attached by a long chain to a nose ring. Midway through the year he wanted to play varsity basketball but needed to get rid of the spikes. He had to shave his head because he had rolled the spikes in Super Glue. He graduated with honors and went on to medical school. I guess one could say he looked weird.

After student four walked in that first day, I went into my closet to pray. I asked God to help me look past the exteriors, to help me not to look through the glass darkly. Instead, I wanted to see the interiors, the eager students waiting to learn.

I thought about sharing these memories with my train mates. I thought better of it. This chance encounter on a train was an opportunity to listen and to reflect. Through the years I have had many conversations with folks who say they “just don’t understand young people.” Sadly, I think they have forgotten at one time they were young. I don’t agree with George Bernard Shaw who said: “Youth is wasted on the young.” Without the young, we do not have the old. We need both, that’s the beauty of the yin and yang of the human experience.

I have spent 40 years working with young people with a variety of hair colors: blue, green, pink, purple, rainbow. Some of them have been mine!

If I’m honest, before those four students walked into my life, I thought like the woman on the train. My micro-miniskirts and go-go boots had given way to pencil skirts, cardigan sweaters and high-heeled shoes. And my sense of freedom and adventure had been lost somewhere in the mix.

But that year, those four taught me a lot about daring to look weird, to think weird and to just be.

I was both the teacher and the student, and I am forever better for the experience.

Rebekah McCloud is director of the ����ֱ��’s PRIME STEM/Student Support Services Program. She can be reached at Rebekah.McCloud@ucf.edu.

��

The learning communities are scholar facilitated (and can be aided by PRIME STEM peer tutor and mentor staff). Each community organizes its meetings and participants bring their own study materials. The PRIME STEM/Student Support Services office is available for scholars to use as a resource center including study materials, study spaces, computers, free printing, and access to program tutors and mentors.

The Learning Community also includes study aids for biology, chemistry, trigonometry, calculus and algebra. Additionally, there are study skills materials: time management, note-taking, effective studying techniques, and testing-taking tips and a core group of modules for program participants. Modules include:

“Since we have instituted the learning communities/study groups, we have noticed a dramatic increase in the number of scholars who come into the office to meet with study groups, utilize resources and/or meet with a peer tutor or peer mentor,” said Rebekah McCloud, program director.

For those scholars who prefer to meet virtually, PRIME STEM was recently awarded an Information Fluency grant to expand its web course (PSP1000) through Canvas. In the future, the program will expand the course offerings to develop major-specific virtual learning communities. These communities will be supported by tutors who will deliver assistance virtually. Additionally, this grant will assist the program in developing a number of modules that will address fluency (information, textual, scientific and mechanical).

This initiative began because PRIME STEM staff noticed that students (especially the Biomedical Sciences majors) were changing their majors to Health Sciences and the program was no longer able to service them. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) at the Institute of Education Sciences (US Department of Education) noted that some 28 percent of beginning�� bachelor degree students …entered a STEM field at some point during their enrollment…and 48 percent had left these fields by either changing their majors or leaving college altogether without completing a degree or certificate.

“It is imperative that we are proactive in doing all we can to assist our students to pursue a STEM major. I do not want any of them to become a statistic,” said McCloud. “Of the 180 students PRIME STEM has served, to date 32 (17%) have changed their majors. Clearly not as high as NCES reports, this number is still cause for concern, Informal dialogue with PRIME STEM ‘major changers’ revealed that the overwhelming majority changed their majors because they experienced failure with math and sciences courses (most among the GEP), particularly calculus, trigonometry, and chemistry. We are hopeful that these learning communities will help students to increase their academic performance,” McCloud added.

PRIME STEM/Student Support Services is a program in the Division of Student Development and Enrollment Services.

Not understanding the euphemism, I said, “Gone? Gone where? When is she coming back? She didn’t tell me she was going anywhere.”

In almost a whisper, he said, “She died this morning.”

Her death was so sudden and so unexpected. I lost my friend I talked to everyday and traveled with to 40 states, two U.S. territories and two countries. We lived through kids (both of us), grandchildren (mine), two husbands (both hers), the loss of a parent (her mother), career changes, college degrees and retirement (both of us; although I went back to work). Thirty years is a long time.

Her death rocked me to my core. Although I am not a weeper, I found myself weeping everywhere:��at church, at work, the grocery store and on an airplane going out west for a conference. We were like sisters. I had not felt that sense of loss since my dad died in 1979. I now have a better understanding of how my mom, 90, must feel when she loses a friend.

In the days following my friend’s death, her family called me a number of times to ask if I knew where she kept her “papers.” I told them what I knew and they did their best to pull together her papers—her life insurance policies, will, deed to the house, bank-account information, etc.

Their search caused me to think about my own papers. Did I know where all of my papers were kept? My answer was: sort of. I had some in a box, some in a drawer, and some in a file cabinet. I set to work sorting, organizing and assembling my papers in a coherent and accessible manner.��

When I opened the box marked “will,” the first thing I saw was a publication titled Five Wishes, ��which is produced by Aging with Dignity, a national nonprofit organization that deals with end-of-life issues. My friend and I picked up the form a few years ago when we attended a seminar hosted by a funeral home. We both went for the free dinner at Seasons 57. However, we left with a great deal of useful information and Five Wishes, which lets your family and doctors know:

It is the best resource I have ever received at one of these kinds of seminars. I was so impressed with it that I picked up extra copies for my family and friends.

I gingerly lifted Five Wishes out of the box and sat with it for a few minutes before I opened it to review the wishes I had written years ago. I used the book as a guide to be sure that��every document was accounted for and every wish noted. When I finished, I called my daughter and told her I had something to share with her.

When my daughter arrived, we went back to my bedroom to talk. She was immediately alarmed because we usually go to the kitchen or the family room to talk. Before I started, she said, “Are you going to tell me that you’re dying?”

”No,” I assured her, “Not anytime soon if I have anything to say about it or do with it.”

“Ok, just checking,” she said. “This is starting off like it’s going to be a serious talk.”

“It is,” I said and proceed to share my “papers” with her. When I was finished, she said, “Wow, you obviously put a lot of thought into this. It’s very thorough. I know it will be useful when the time comes. But this is very uncomfortable for me.”

I admitted that it was uncomfortable for me as well. But I thought about my friend’s family. Not only were they overwhelmed by grief, but the situation was exacerbated by looking for and completing the mountains of paperwork that accompanied her death.

Always the Momma, I want to do what I can to make things easy for my family. And, as a baby boomer, I realize that time marches on and at some point, the bell will toll for me.

The Pew Research Center notes that more than half of the older parents surveyed indicated they had spoken with their children regarding end-of-life matters:

Additionally, about 70 percent of parents indicated they had initiated the conversation with their children. I’m glad I talked with my daughter. The talk was very liberating. We have moved into a different space with one another. She now talks with me about the serious things in her life. I love it; I now feel less like a meddler and more like an advisor.

I have shared my experience will all of my family and friends. Reception to organizing their papers and having “the talk” has been mixed. Some were encouraged and said they would do the same, some said they would think about it, and others did not want to discuss the topic.

Nevertheless, I advised them all to find their papers (a few needed to create some paperwork), organize their affairs, clean out their closets, take a good picture of themselves, and have courageous conversations with their loved ones.

Rebekah McCloud is director of the ����ֱ��’s PRIME STEM/Student Support Services Program. She can be reached at Rebekah.McCloud@ucf.edu.

A recent analysis of Census Bureau data by the Pew Research Center noted that nearly half (47 percent) of Americans aged 47-59 have a parent at least 65 years old and are also raising a minor child or provide support to a grown child. Additionally, 15 percent of that age group in the past year provided financial support to parents at least 65 years old and a child. There are close to 14 million adult children still living at home and 36 percent of those 18-31 are still living with their parents.

These are compelling statistics that will increase exponentially in the next decade or two when Baby Boomers become the “aging parents.”

Nationally known elder-care authority Carol Abaya coined the term “club sandwich” to describe people in their 50s and 60s with adult children, grandchildren and aging parents. This describes me, too. However, there’s another layer to me. I am a multilayered sandwich with a variety of fillings: I am a Dagwood. This kind of sandwich was made popular by Dagwood Bumstead, one of the main characters in Chic Young’s comic strip, Blondie.

Recently my three siblings came over to visit Momma, who is 90. We had a terrific evening of food, laughter and stories for time long passed. The next morning over coffee, Momma said: “That was a fun night, wasn’t it?”

I agreed.

She continued, “I was so happy to see all of my children together. I watched you all and it became as clear as day to me that you are the momma now.”

I interrupted in protest: “Oh, Momma, that’s not true. You are the momma and will always be the momma. Nobody can take your place.”

She placed her hand on mine and said, “Let me finish. I know I will always be Mom, but you are the Momma. I know you can’t take my place. You have your own place. Your brothers and sister look up to you. They come to you with problems and joys. They love me alright, but you are first. And I am right there with them. I have gotten old and I am one of the children now. We need you and I pray that God will bless you and keep you strong.”

She was silent for a long while.

In her silence, I understood Momma’s intention. She was passing the mantel of matriarch on to me. I thought about the conversation for many days after that morning. I even called my siblings and talked with them about it. They all affirmed Momma’s assessment of the situation: I am the Momma now.

So, Ms. Abaya, I offer Dagwood as an additional kind of family sandwich. I am sure I am not alone. Family defined as mom, dad and kids is not necessarily the norm anymore. Just watch television any day of the week and you will find that there are a myriad of configurations that comprise family. Boy, do I know this to be true. I have become the matriarch of my extended family: I am the Momma now.

With the care and leadership for my Mom, children and grandchildren, I’ve added my siblings, their children and grandchildren. This is an awesome responsibility and a tremendous opportunity to learn, to teach, to mentor, to encourage, to nurture, and to love. I pray I don’t disappoint.

Rebekah McCloud is director of the ����ֱ��’s PRIME STEM/Student Support Services Program. She can be reached at Rebekah.McCloud@ucf.edu.

What’s the word, you ask? Clutter!

I can’t really pinpoint when it began; it seems like it was just there.

I was a neat freak well into my 50s. There was a place for everything and everything in its place. I was never Mommy Dearest (although there’s probably only two or three wire hangers in my house), but I was obsessed with the notion of an orderly environment.

One Saturday morning that suddenly changed. I had been up cleaning since the crack of dawn when I caught a glimpse of my haggard reflection in the mirror. I studied it and asked myself, “Really?”

Would it really matter if I left a sweater draped across a chair instead of hanging it in the closet? Would it really matter if I left the dishes in the dishwasher overnight rather than putting them away as soon as the cycle was over? Would it really matter if my handbags were just on a shelf and not arranged by color, size and purpose? Would it really matter if instead of having every drawer organized, I had a junk drawer? Would it matter?

Holy moly, what was I thinking? Surely I would be sucked into a black hole or into the time-space continuum or worse yet, some evil would befall me if I had indeed committed such a slovenly act.

Really, probably not. Slovenly I am not; I just have too much of what author and professional organizer Peter Walsh calls “lazy clutter.” Walsh says it’s a little more than trash; it’s all the stuff that we neglect and it accumulates over time on every flat surface in our homes. For me, its unopened junk mail, magazines, coupons and notes scribbled on scraps of paper.

I’m not a pack rat or a hoarder; I’m just guilty of piling it high. Sometimes I just plop things down. I have every intention of putting them away, but it never happens. Taking care of it all is becoming quite a chore that is sometimes stressful. I am not alone. The Huffington Post last year conducted a survey. They found that clutter is the fifth most common stress trigger; 47 percent of respondents worried that their homes were not clean or organized enough.

Americans in general have too much stuff to take care of. Consider these facts from the National Association of Organizing Professionals:

The National Soap and Detergent Association says that getting rid of excess clutter would eliminate 40 percent of the housework in an average home. And the U.S. Department of Energy notes that 25 percent of people with two-car garages don’t have room to park cars inside due to clutter, and 32 percent only have room for one vehicle.

I don’t rent a storage unit (although I probably could) or park in the garage (because there’s too much stuff in there) and yes, I probably wear 20 percent of my clothes 80 percent of the time.

But, I’m making progress. Last month I started a de-cluttering project. I labeled three boxes: Keep, Throw Away, and Give Away. I even put some items in each, but unfortunately, some of the items in the Throw Away and Give Away boxes made their way back into the Keep box.

Clutter, clutter, clutter — there, I said it. Since I am not Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz and I don’t have the power to click my heels together three times and go back to another time, I am going to work more on eliminating the C word from my list. Well, there’s always tomorrow.

Rebekah McCloud is director of the ����ֱ��’s PRIME STEM/Student Support Services Program. She can be reached at Rebekah.McCloud@ucf.edu.

This summer, to encourage participation in science, technology, engineering, math (STEM) careers and to ignite an interest in science, UBP will be hosting a science camp themed “Mission to Mars.” Scholars will learn from three experts: Thomas Brueckner, a UCF physics faculty member (an astrophysicist), Sigfredo Chiclana, a high school Science Olympiad & Robotics Coach, and Kara Hartage, a high school biology and chemistry teacher. The camp will be bookended by presentations by UCF Physicist Daniel Britt and Russell Romanella from NASA.

It will also include a day of science exploration of mechanical and electrical design provided by the Girl Scouts of West Florida. “Inspector Gadget” will allow students to design and build working catapults and build electronic circuits. Students will engage in classroom-based laboratories that will integrate hands on science and, in teams, they will design and build robots. The camp will also include a visit to the Robinson Observator (an opportunity to see a electron microscope); a field trip to Wonderworks; and several STEM-focused job shadowing experiences sponsored by Junior Achievement of Central Florida.

An anticipated outcome of the summer camp is that it will allay students’ fears of science and that they will:

1. Participate in more rigorous advanced courses
2. Progress toward college and career ready standards. The camp is aligned with the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards, Grades 9-12, Physical Science, Standard 10: Energy and Standard 12: Motion.

“It is my goal to provide our scholars with every opportunity I can to explore careers in STEM,” said McCloud.

The Upward Bound��is a program in the Division of Student Development and Enrollment Services.