“FINDING SHARED STRENGTHS”: BRANDAN’S STORY

Eastfield College: A Dream Catching Expedition

Our Dream Catchers classes are different from any ordinary English and Learning Framework experience. Our learning community combines the two courses in order to explore similar concepts about human development, unveiling our individual cryptic minds and getting further into the depths of language assignments.

For us, there are more interactions inside the classroom with students cooperatively endorsing one other and offering help that finds shared strengths in one to compensate for weaknesses in another. That way, we are all doing better together. Also, Professor Preston who teaches English, arranged a couple of munch-and-brunch events to get to know us beyond the school walls. We didn’t just go to school; we became a family.

Our program provided personal mentors, financial budgeting programs, educational apps, service learning engagement, a trip to the University of North Texas at Dallas, and a Noche de Familia (a Graduation promise to complete, dinner and ceremony.) The program was a great motivator for us Dream Catchers who are taking our first steps on this journey.

2017 Founding Dream Catcher Derrick Maduku explains, “One of the most important things that I learned as a Dream Catcher is that if I run into difficulties, I know there is someone I can look to, and I have a wider variety of resources. If there’s another Dream Catcher who is struggling, I would be more than willing to lend a hand. Not to mention, I really enjoyed the Noche de Familia because it motivated me, highlighting the importance of earning my degree and giving a glimpse into the sensation of walking the stage.”

Our common goal is to graduate in 2018 and transfer to a four-year university to gain a Bachelor’s, and some are headed for a further degree. We Dream Catchers are not just pursuing school, but feel like we’re also investing in future career and personal development. Knowing that down the road there will be barriers blocking our paths, we have gained more diligence and motivation to overcome any wall we come up against.