Staff Blog: Annalou Lingat

Full Name: Annalou Lingat
Year at UCLA: 2nd year
Major: Psychobiology
SPACE Site: Belmont High School
Position in SPACE: 1st year Peer Tutor

The moment I always think of when I look back at how I became involved in SPACE is when I volunteered for PREP’s (Pilipino Recruitment and Enrichment Program’s)  DIAL (“Day in a Life” of a College Student) conference.  The PREP leaders assigned me to help facilitate a workshop about the different California college systems with a SPACE staff member.   I really enjoyed talking to high school students about college and topics revelant to them.  My experience at DIAL and the push of a SPACE staff member persuaded me to join SPACE staff support (last year’s SPACE internship).  That’s how I got hooked. 

I really enjoyed the fact that I started to get involved with the community and helping others.  Every time I went to site, I loved talking with high school students about their interests, school life, and life in general.  These were topics that I definitely connected to because I was a high school student, myself not too long ago.  But what makes SPACE different from any other peer tutoring and peer advising program is how it challenged me to think beyond what I knew before and question why things are the way they are. 

To say it simply, I love the topics that we discuss during staff meetings, at site, with our students, and with each other.  SPACE  provides a space in which to explore more critically who you are as a person and how you connect with the world and community. 

And even now as a current SPACE staff member, I still feel like my mind is expanding.  I truly appreciate the countless conversations that I have had with SPACE staff members and students that have added to my own growth as a person.  SPACE has helped me become more open-minded about issues and the community. 

 I volunteer for SPACE because I truly believe in the potential of all students and love to learn and listen about their own personal experiences and beliefs.  As a high school peer tutor, I strive to be a form of personal support to everyone in my community.  We don’t just push students to do their homework or score high on their SATs.  We do more than that.  As SPACE staff, we work towards learning about our students’ interests and they can connect their interests to school and the community.