The Power of Listening and Writing

Isabella (Izzy) Castrezana ’27 is our Student Communications Assistant and a Communication Studies major from Orange County, California at USF. Since April, she’s been a tutor for our community partner, 826 Valencia. 826 Valencia is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting under-resourced students in K-12 with their creative and expository writing skills and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Read about Izzy’s journey from field trips to after-school tutoring to in-class projects.

1. What was your motivation for getting involved with 826 Valencia?

 My motivation for getting involved with 826 Valencia was truly helping the next generation by making them feel they have a support system. Growing up, I was always in and out of the YMCA at my elementary and middle school, working on my homework from other classes. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Y! I made so many friends and built connections with my counselors. I would always go home with huge amounts of homework due to huge recess breaks and snack breaks. With 826, they really pride themselves on building connections with their students, along with helping them balance out their workload and prepare for the next steps of their lives. 

The main age group I work with is students from 4th-8th grades. With this age range, there’s always an area of transition. Some students are preparing for their last year of elementary school, whilst others are about to enter high school. The first priority is always building that safe environment with our students, making sure that they feel seen as more than just a person who comes in for academic help. I know I needed that for my childhood self, and it helps heal my “inner child.” Being able to give these kids someone to confide in lets me realize time and time again, “This is why I do what I do.” On an academic level, I know I’m really good with 4th to 8th grade academics: multiplication, geometry, poetry, trigonometry, english, basic biology, etc. Furthermore, I’ve been able to adopt some of the concepts my teachers used on me that were effective, and they’ve helped the kids I tutor more than I realize. 

2. What’s one “aha” moment you have experienced? 

One “aha” moment for me was actually my first Field Trip with 826 at their Mission Center. We were hosting a fourth-grade class, and we had them do a Create Your Own Story situation. The class was split into four groups, and each was assigned a different role in the story (Protagonist, Sidekick, Antagonist, and Minion). My group was assigned “minion,” and there was one student who wasn’t really too motivated and kept getting distracted easily. She also wasn’t talking too much to the other students, so I decided to join in conversation with her to help her feel more included. While our lead was describing the different elements of a story, she turned over to me and asked, “Hey, Counselor Izzy? Can our character be a girl?” I told her yes, but also asked why she asked that. She then tells me, “Oh! Well, I just didn’t know if girl characters can do what guy characters do.” I then kept encouraging her that girls can do anything a guy can do. It took me back a little because of the fact that a young girl is already having these concepts in her brain as a fourth grader, that girls and guys have different capabilities, due to societal norms. When I was these students’ age, I was worried whether I would be able to make it to the tetherball courts in time at recess, not these man-made concepts of society. Being able to encourage her to keep engaging throughout the field trip helped heal a part of my “inner-child” as well and helped me realize, “This is why I do what I do.”

3. Where do you think this experience will lead you?

First and foremost, this experience was a true blessing. Anytime I can provide help to anyone, I feel I’m doing my part as a member of society. Right now, I’m debating which career path I want to go towards as a Communication Studies (COMS) scholar. The beauty of COMS, as any other COMS majors and professors will tell you, is that it dives into so many different fields of work. The three different paths I’m considering now are marketing (in tech or fashion), law, and human resources. After being in a different class environment, it really opened my eyes to possibly becoming a primary school teacher added to the list. There’s a certain perspective that kids provide on the world that truly can make one realize there’s still hope for the world to become a better place. Nonetheless, knowing that I’m making a contribution to their success fills my heart with joy. When I bring up the possibility of me working in primary education, the very first thing people ask is, “What grade?” To be honest, I would want to either work with 3rd or 4th graders since I know academically I feel the most confident. However, it’s also because that’s one of the crucial points of elementary school regarding self-identity. Being a resource for them is what I’m passionate about. 

Want to be more involved with helping the next generation find their voice in writing like Izzy? Learn more about how you can become a tutor for 826 Valencia here!