ACES Discussion

1. What are your expectations going into engaged scholarship?

I expect that I will learn a lot from leaving the UC Berkeley campus bubble. I will learn about the people other than Cal students who live in the area and their personalities, attitudes and culture. Specifically, since I would like to be a part of the BTech residency, I expect to learn a lot from interacting with younger people that have different backgrounds than me. In that way I can open my mind to new perspectives other than just a focus on midterms and papers.

2. Have you spent much time off campus since you got to Cal?

I have not spent much time off campus since I started here as a freshman. I tutored for one semester at an elementary school in Oakland through a club at Cal. I definitely felt that that was a foreign place to me even though it was only in the city across town.

3. Are you from the bay area/not enrolled? If so, how does this affect your relationship to ACES?

I am not from the bay area; I'm originally from Orange County. Orange County has a different socioeconomic and racial composition than the bay area, so getting involved with this community will be a new experience for me.

4. Which projects did you select and why?

I selected the residencies at Btech and BCC as my top two choices because I enjoy teaching and being a mentor. I was a resident assistant in the university dormitories my junior year because I wanted to support incoming UC Berkeley students and help them transition to college life. I also think that interacting with younger people in an academic environment is very exciting.

5. What are your hopes and fears?

My biggest fear is that I will get into a mindset of trying to "save" students. I know from our class discussion that that is not a job function of Btech STP's and that the students don't need saving; it's just difficult because since I am so privileged, I feel like I need to give back to others that didn't have the same opportunities I did. I hope that I will be a good listener and be someone that the students want to see every week.

-Patrick Ho