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Pearl Geronimo’s deep commitment to College Ten’s theme
made her an excellent candidate for the Social Justice & Community
CUIP Internship. Pearl is a graduating senior at UCSC majoring in
Economics and Politics. Prior to her work as a CUIP Intern, Pearl
held a number of student leadership positions that gave her the
skills and experiences needed to help her in reach her goals for
CUIP. As a Resident Advisor at College Ten, Pearl worked closely
with both the Residential Life and Co-Curricular Programs staff
that enabled her to deepen her understanding of the academic and
residential life at the college. With the opportunity to directly
work with the residents at College Ten, Pearl became particularly
involved with implementing the college’s theme through working
closely with the Co-Curricular Programs staff on theme-related programs.
The opportunities that allowed Pearl to connect profoundly with
College Ten deepened her passion to explore more of the college’s
academic environment, developing the college’s identity, and
building a positive and diverse learning community for her peers.
Pearl’s experiences as an RA, planning the Practical Activism
Conference, teaching the Social Justice Workshop, and organizing
a fully student-led benefit concert served as a stepping stone for
her success as CUIP Intern. Her passion to lead and her desire to
expand her knowledge of the greater UCSC campus inspired her to
choose the path of becoming the College Ten CUIP Intern.
The College Ten CUIP Internship consisted of many engaging and challenging
roles. During fall quarter, Pearl coordinated and facilitated College
Ten’s Fall Leadership Program E.N.G.A.G.E. (Explore New Growth
And Gain Experience). Meeting weekly during fall quarter, the program
provided a safe learning space for new students to explore the college
theme. Pearl facilitated a variety of activities and discussions
that enabled students to explore their social identities, develop
effective leadership skills and organize a final social action project.
The group worked together to put on a highly successful Hurricane
Katrina Open Mic Benefit Concert. The objective of the event was
to inform the community about the existing devastating conditions
in the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, raise money for rehabilitation
and inform students of the ways they can take further action. The
passionate students of the E.N.G.A.G.E. group continued their involvement
as student leaders at College Ten community, and one was actually
hired as a CUIP Intern for next year.
Aside from E.N.G.A.G.E. in the fall, Pearl also played a significant
role in planning the 4th Annual Practical Activism Conference. As
the student lead coordinator, Pearl convened and facilitated the
group and the general oversight of the planning. She worked closely
with the advisors, staff and faculty in organizing the day-long
conference that provided practical tools for local and global change.
The conference consisted of workshops and keynote speakers put on
by a group of students from College Nine, Ten and Oakes. The conference
was a huge success with over 400 attendances from the community
and beyond.
Pearl’s next major project was working closely with her mentor
Wendy Baxter to design the College Ten 2-credit Social Justice Workshop.
Pearl’s role included student-instructor training, doing an
immense amount of research to provide the student-instructors with
resources and materials, inviting relevant speakers and performances
to supplement the course topics, the overall curriculum design and
a course final project. In developing the final project, Pearl invited
faculty members who worked on issues around Hurricane Katrina such
as Paul Ortiz and Bettina Aptheker. Pearl developed and organized
a Hurricane Katrina Collection Drive with a local Santa Cruz group
called “Follow Your Heart” that was founded by Curtis
Reliford. The collective drive was a huge success. Students collected
over $700 and a variety of items including toiletries and children’s
books.
Pearl was also involved in assisting many other Co-Curricular Programs
for the remainder of the year including the Student-Faculty Dinner
and the War on Iraq Debate. Pearl continued to help plan the 5th
Annual Practical Activism, especially with recruiting and outreaching
new members.
After graduation, Pearl intends to go to law school where she hopes
to study international law. Pearl has plans to visit the Philippines
where she is working on establishing an organization focusing primarily
on structurally improving the quality of life for local craft artists.
She is confident that the facilitation, research, decision-making,
program development and planning, and intercultural communication
skills she learned will be a valuable asset in her achievement of
future goals. She is grateful for the opportunity to work with supportive
mentors and peers who have contributed to her growth. Overall, Pearl’s
experience as a CUIP Intern has provided her with a uniquely advantageous
and rewarding opportunity to gain a better knowledge of her own
character and passions.
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