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Commonwealth Honors College building

As many of you know, the Emerging Scholars (ES) program is a Residential Academic Program (RAP)  created in collaboration with Commonwealth Honors College to support first-generation and under-represented students. 

For myself and many others, ES serves as an impactful foundation of support and community for students in their first year, and throughout the college journey. 

Recently two ES students, Joseph “JoJo” Jackson and Valandy Pierre, stepped up to serve the ES community as peer leaders. In this role they are highlighting students’ success, supporting ES students in need, and coordinating community events for different ES cohorts to connect. I had the great opportunity to get to know them through brief interviews. 

As myself and other ES seniors will graduate in a few short months, I am glad to know that the program is in fantastic hands - with director Ann Marie Russell, academic advisor Cody Olson, and two great peer leaders supporting us. Read on to learn more about JoJo and Val, how the program has impacted them, why they decided to step up, and their hopes for the program going forward. 

JoJo Jackson 

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Joseph Jackson

Q: Tell me a bit about yourself! 

A: My name is Joseph Jackson. I'm a sophomore this year studying sociology here at UMass Amherst. I'm an Emerging Scholars peer leader here at Commonwealth Honors College. I oversee a cohort of 60 students so far, with a constant growing cohort. A little bit about me is, I'm from a small town in Massachusetts called New Bedford, two and a half hours away from Amherst. I'm just a driven person. I just want to see this program reach to new heights, which you'll hear more about. 

Q: How has Emerging Scholars helped your growth in college so far, particularly compared to when you were a first-year student? 

A: Emerging Scholars has been a very impactful program in my life, which is why I wanted to be a part of the peer leader position here. I think helping students who are coming in without much knowledge about college or its expectations, and assisting them in their transition, is very beneficial. I feel like I get more out of that as a person who always wants to help.

Emerging Scholars has definitely made me more confident as a college student, knowing what's expected from professors I meet along the way. So I would say definitely that has prepared me for the rest of my time here. 

Q: What is your favorite thing about Emerging Scholars? 

A: My favorite thing about the Emerging Scholars program is the sense of community. I love that when you join Emerging Scholars, you're not on your own. There are 16 other students going through the same experiences, and you form bonds and get to know each other better. You know how to help each other out, and that just overall sense of community. Meeting the faculty at the welcome dinners, and just seeing what is provided to us, what's expected out of us, that’s the best part. 

Q: Why did you choose to become an ES peer leader, and what do you do in your role? 

A: I chose to be a peer leader because I wanted to help students with the transition that are coming into UMass Amherst, especially those that are from underrepresented backgrounds. I think that's so important because many of us don't think that we can make it to a university with such a high stature like the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I was just very open to the position because I want to take it to new heights. Just making ES stand out and have a long-lasting impact on the communities

As a peer leader, I check in with all the cohorts that are here on campus, from our  first-year students to our seniors. I try to organize events for all the cohorts, or focus it onto a specific cohort in mind. I have some things that I'm getting ready to work on to elevate the program, bring other cohorts together as a first year.

Q: Is there anything else you want people to know about your role as a peer leader in the ES community? 

A: I just want to say that I'm around and I'm always open to suggestions and ideas from other students that were a part of Emerging Scholars and know what it takes — whether it's current students, alumni. And that ES is just a program that wants the greater good for everybody.

Val Pierre

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Valandy Pierre

Q: Tell me a bit about yourself! 

A: My name is Valandy, but I mostly go by Val. I'm a sophomore biomedical engineering major. And I'm from Everett, MA. I'm Haitian. I speak three languages: French, Haitian Creole, and English. And I think I can speak a little Spanish too, but it depends on the time of day. And I like to read. I like to watch TV shows, specifically action TV shows. I like to go hiking too! 

Q: How has Emerging Scholars helped your growth in college so far, particularly compared to when you were a first-year student? 

A: I'll say the program really helped, because first of all, as a first-year student, when you live with the same group of people and then you have the same classes with them you develop a relationship with each other. So I think it made it easier for me to find that community and find these friends and find these people. 

Being part of Emerging Scholars helped me get out of my comfort zone. Because I don't think I'd normally be friends with the people I'm friends with from the Emerging Scholars. I'm currently rooming with two of them - my roommate is an Emerging Scholar, and my suite mate is also an Emerging Scholar. So it was just easy for me to find these people to room with and they were right there, and they're my friends too.

Q: What is your favorite thing about Emerging Scholars? 

A: I'll say the community and how supported we are. The Honors College really supports the Emerging Scholars. Whatever we need, we can just reach out to them — specifically Dr. Russell. She's always looking for feedback for the program and looking for areas of improvement, and I think that's really good. It shows that she cares. I also love the community, because like I mentioned, you get this community as soon as you step foot inside of UMass and you know that they're going to be with you forever, all four years. And you're always going to see them, because you either have events that you're going to do with your cohorts and all that. 

Q: Why did you choose to become an ES peer leader, and what do you do in your role? 

A: I think why I was mostly interested, I am going to be honest — I think I like being a leader. I'm more of a leader than a follower, I'll say. And I also thought that if maybe I was a peer leader, the things I wanted to see in the program — I could help make them happen. So that's why I said yes. And then I love Emerging Scholars, so I was like, "Why not?" It's a fun job and it's a fun community.

As peer leaders, we plan events for the Emerging Scholars cohorts. We do check-ins with the first years, specifically because it's their first year. And then whatever either people from my cohorts or different cohorts want to see happen, we try to work with Dr. Russell to make it happen. We think of what could be beneficial for the cohorts. And I also work on the newsletters. 

Q: Is there anything else you want people to know about your role as a peer leader in the ES community? 

A: I keep saying this to the first-year cohorts: "Email me. Whatever you want, email me." And I'm like, "If you want to see something happen, email me and I'll try to make it happen." And I think I just want them to know that I'm accessible, and my email is on the newsletter. And yes, I know I'm a sophomore and maybe a senior might not want to talk to me, but you should email me!

Article posted in Community for Prospective students and Current students