"Everything is a process. Life really is about experience. Experience is sometimes the best teacher." – Autumn West
Education-Related Campus Organizations
MAFE (Minority Association of Future Educators)MAFE (Minority Association of Future Educators) is an RSO dedicated to education issues especially regarding minority students and teachers. They are always looking for new members, and currently need tutors to help them with a program they are trying to build in order to tutor students and eventually bring them on the UIUC campus to expose them to higher education! They meet bi-weekly on Tuesdays at 7 pm.
Student Education Association (SEA)The Student Education Association (SEA) is the student program of the Illinois Education Association that focuses on community outreach, political action, and teacher quality. Their meetings see a variety of speakers, teacher movie nights, or their Teacher Ted Talk night. Furthermore, they offer professional development hours to meet other students across the state and even attend state conferences in the spring and the fall.
Epsilon DeltaEpsilon Delta is a professional teaching fraternity that does a few community volunteering events a semester and also gives prospective teachers a place to come together and talk about teaching. They have bi-weekly meetings where presenters often show up to discuss their experiences with teaching and working in the community.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of UIUCThis RSO focuses on mentorship among the local C-U community. Students at UIUC can be a big brother or sister to a younger student in elementary school. You would mostly just be required to meet with them once a week and just chat about whatever you like!
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EMWA (Empowering Minority Women Association)EMWA (Empowering Minority Women Association) This RSO is dedicated to empowering women of all backgrounds. They have great discussions and meetings about various minority women issues while constantly trying to empower every women and affirm them in their life goals and personal identity.
Best BuddiesBest Buddies is a great organization for getting involved with students with a disability in the community. You can make lots of friends and truly make a difference in someone's life. As a College Buddy, you will truly impact the life of your Buddy through your time, encouragement, support, and love. You will also have a great deal of fun with him or her along with the chance to learn a number of valuable lessons from one another
Alpha Phi Omega (APO)Alpha Phi Omega (APO) is a service fraternity. It has hundreds of chapters across the US. They are a fraternity rooted in leadership, friendship, and service. There's so much that you can do within the fraternity and they have tons of service, leadership, fellowship events each day. It's a whole community of brothers whose focus is to give back to the community. You get so many opportunities to participate in service events both on campus and in the Champaign-Urbana community.
Vis-A-VisVis-A-Vis is another great RSO to get involved with. They give U of I students the opportunity to tutor kids in local elementary schools.
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Student Voices with Stephanie Flores
On Why She Chose Education
The way I grew up is a main factor of why I want to go into education. I am the eldest of four in my family. Growing up, I definitely got asked for help on homework by both my siblings and my parents. Although my dad is fluent in speaking English, he still struggled with reading and understanding the material my siblings and I were assigned for homework sometimes. The one who would often spend the afternoons with us was my mom, but she doesn't speak much English; so when my younger siblings began to go to school, she often asked me to help them. From there on, I realized the passion I had to help people with their homework and explain things to them.
After going through CPS schools my entire life, I've realized that there are many cracks in the school system and I want to help improve them. I've viewed the way some teachers show their passion in the classroom and how much they genuinely love their job and I also want to do that. I want my students to know how loved they are. I've grown up to see too many students being affected by outside factors. I want to change that. I want my students to always know that they have someone to rely on, no matter what it is.
I think the one person who has helped to inspire me is a high school teacher named Mr. Reza. He would always walk into class with a huge smile on his face. I could tell he was happy to be there and he always tried his best to make his class as fun as he could. He was well aware of the neighborhood he was in and how much weight the students in the classroom were actually carrying on their shoulders, even if that weight wasn't necessarily school-related. The year he was my teacher really opened up my eyes to being more mindful of those around me, which made me want to teach in low-income neighborhoods. I want to be able to inspire my students and make them see that although there are many factors constantly pushing us down, we can still succeed, despite the social inequities we can experience as a result of our race and social class.
After going through CPS schools my entire life, I've realized that there are many cracks in the school system and I want to help improve them. I've viewed the way some teachers show their passion in the classroom and how much they genuinely love their job and I also want to do that. I want my students to know how loved they are. I've grown up to see too many students being affected by outside factors. I want to change that. I want my students to always know that they have someone to rely on, no matter what it is.
I think the one person who has helped to inspire me is a high school teacher named Mr. Reza. He would always walk into class with a huge smile on his face. I could tell he was happy to be there and he always tried his best to make his class as fun as he could. He was well aware of the neighborhood he was in and how much weight the students in the classroom were actually carrying on their shoulders, even if that weight wasn't necessarily school-related. The year he was my teacher really opened up my eyes to being more mindful of those around me, which made me want to teach in low-income neighborhoods. I want to be able to inspire my students and make them see that although there are many factors constantly pushing us down, we can still succeed, despite the social inequities we can experience as a result of our race and social class.
Get Involved
Office of Public EngagementThe Office of Public Engagement is a great department on campus that provides information and resources for students and community members on how to become more involved through volunteering. This department is rooted in the values of putting the local, regional, state, national, and global needs into the hands of community members. The Office of Public Engagement works on developing programs for the University of Illinois to continue the school’s prestigious reputation as a research and service institution. These programs have covered very diverse societal issues such as education, social justice, economic development, and sustainability. For every program that the Office of Public Engagement plans, their mission is to listen to the needs of the people and to give service to the community through engagement.
Cultural HousesThe Cultural Houses provide great ways for students to learn about their own ethnicities and to learn about other cultures through events they put on throughout the year, as well as the weekly, Lunch on Us programs at the the multiple cultural houses, the Women’s Resource Center, and the LGBT Resource Center. The food is really good and really free!
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University YMCAThe University YMCA offers a ton of opportunities for students to get involved in the community through volunteering, Alternative Seasonal Break, and their Friday Forum discussions that tie in topics from current events into discussions on campus. These are all great ways to get into conversations with fellow students, faculty, and community members about the relationship we as students at the University of Illinois have with the Champaign-Urbana community, but also the relationships we build with the rest of the world.
The Office of Inclusion and Intercultural RelationsThe Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations (OIIR) is a great department on campus to be aware of as a future educator. They are responsible for a ton of programs on campus that center on creating dialogues regarding the need for an inclusive campus -many times by incorporating issues that are relevant to what is happening in the world and what is happening at the University of Illinois. Events through OIIR are posted on their website.
Champaign-Urbana Immigration ForumThe Champaign-Urbana Immigration Forum, a community placement through EDUC 201, is an RSO that students can get involved in called La Colectiva. Students work hand-in-hand with the members of the Forum and work closely with other students on campus to build a close network of support and resources for immigrants in the Champaign-Urbana area. The students listen to what the Immigration Forum needs and helps them in any way that they, as students, can help. This creates a great relationship and trust between the local community members and the students at the University of Illinois. It is also a great way for students to get involved in immigration activism and see what the process of working through a grassroots program is like.
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