Advising with Momentum Education

Do you ever wonder what it is like to be on the flip side of mentoring? Being the mentor and not the mentee? I sat down with one of Momentum Education’s Advisor, Mariana Salazar and asked her what it’s like.

Audrey: “Thank you so much Mariana for being able to take the time and answer a few questions — let’s get started, can you tell me about your background, what school you are attending & future plans?

Mariana: “I am currently a teacher at YES Prep East End, I teach Spanish 1 & 2 and have been doing so for about 3 years. I attended Texas A&M and one foal of mine is to move up within the school and get into administration — another goal of mine is to teach Spanish abroad. I am currently working on my Master’s in Spanish and I am attending a university in Spain!

Audrey: “That’s amazing! The second question I have is how did you first come across or learn about Momentum Education?

Mariana: “Last year, our Dean of Students who was my manager knew someone to assist with student activities. Each grade level has a seminar class, except our 10th grade, and I really wanted them to have more resources and opportunities so I reached out to Momentum to be able to provide these various resources for the 10th grade.”

Audrey: “Of course, that leads me to my next question: what is the work you are doing with Momentum Education & how has it impacted you?”

Mariana: “Well, I focus on the top 25% of the class as it can be overwhelming to run the whole grade level, so I do bring the resources Momentum provides to these students. The students also love to see the various experiences and perspectives about the topics that Momentum showcase. It has just been great to know that the students are enjoying it and able to learn more.”

Audrey: “What are some specific resources/activities that you have hosted in the past or have done?”

Mariana: “I have hosted an event that runs the students through Momentum Education and shown them how the website looks and how it works. I do hope to show students on how to apply for college, how to really filter out the various career paths for them to figure out what they would like to pursue & how to apply for scholarships. In the future, I would like to showcase more internships, and how to navigate Momentum’s website as I have noticed there is a gap in technology — to us, we know how to navigate but to the students, they have trouble and I want to fix that for them.”

Thank you, Mariana for all of the coaching, and advising you do for students! We hope continue to work together to bring resources, and various opportunities to all students!

— Audrey Pena (Marketing Coordinator — Interviewing Mariana Salazar, Momentum Education Advisor)