Hi ,

Welcome to our new combined College Completion Newsletter! Here you'll be able to see program updates and reminders not only just for yourself, but also a quick snapshot of other programs.

With a new school year ahead for our Scholars, we want to encourage them to check-in with their goals. Whether that means their goals for the week, semester, or year, now is the perfect opportunity for our Scholars to reflect on, and plan for, what they hope to achieve in the future. 

This month, the newsletter theme for our Mentors and Scholars is on Setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely) Goals. Setting realistic goals for the year can provide our Scholars with insight, direction, and a sense of motivation throughout the year. We have developed a resource guide on understanding and setting SMART goals for the year. We encourage you to review the guide and implement its tips and resources in a discussion with your Mentor, Scholar and friends!

College Completion Announcements

Mentor-Scholar Activity 1.3

Reminder to complete Activity 1.3, which launched in the Scholar and Mentor portals on 8/2. In this activity, you and your partner will be establishing SMART goals and will discuss how you are going to support each other to achieve these goals. This activity includes 3 Parts:

• Individual Pre-work (Brainstorm ~ 15 min)
• Main Activity (Discussion & SMART Goals Activity ~ 60 min)
• Feedback Form (5 min).

The SMART Goals Activity and Feedback Form are due by September 30th, at 11:59 pm. This activity and your unique Feedback Form link can be found in your Scholar or Mentor Portal. If you are a Scholar and have any questions, please email advising@oaklandpromise.org. If you are a Mentor and have any questions, please email mentors@oaklandpromise.org.

Mentor-Scholar Activity 2.2

Reminder to complete Activity 2.2, which launched in the Scholar and Mentor portals on 8/2. In this activity, you and your partner will reflect on how your first year matched together went and will establish SMART goals that challenge the both of you to take your progress to the next level.
This activity includes 3 Parts:

• Individual Pre-work (Article and Brainstorm~ 15 min)
• Main Activity (SMART Goals Activity ~ 60 min)
• Feedback Form (5 min).

The SMART Goals Activity and Feedback Form are due by September 30th, at 11:59 pm. This activity and your unique Feedback Form link can be found in your Scholar or Mentor Portal. If you are a Scholar and have any questions, please email advising@oaklandpromise.org. If you are a Mentor and have any questions, please email mentors@oaklandpromise.org.

Scholar Doc Submission Deadline EXTENDED to 9/9

We have extended Fall 2021 Scholar Docs submission deadline to 9/9/21. If you have not submitted your Scholar Docs yet or activated your Oakland Promise Portal to receive your Fall 2021 scholarship check, this is your second chance. Once ALL Scholar Docs are submitted and receive Advising approval, you will receive your check through mail between 10/4/21/ - 10/8/21. There are no advances or exceptions once we close the Scholar Doc submission form on 9/9/21.

We are only requiring submission of your Fall 2021 Class Schedule and downloading of the MyCoach App for you Scholar Doc submissions.

Scholar Opportunities

UCLA Law Fellows Program

The Law Fellows Program is an educational initiative that aims to de-mystify the law school admissions process, law school, and various practice areas within the legal field. Participants attend a series of “Academies”, where they interact with admissions professionals, current law students and faculty, and an array of practicing attorneys. By providing valuable information and resources, the Program empowers Fellows to make informed, confident decisions about pursuing a legal degree. Once Fellows are ready to apply to law school, the Law Fellows Program helps its participants navigate the application process by offering personalized admissions consulting until matriculation to law school

Mentor Announcements

Monthly Mentor Survey

If you have a 2019 Scholar or earlier, the September Monthly Survey will open on Thursday, September 2nd. You can also access the survey via the Mentor Portal. Through the survey, you will have a chance to share any information about your interactions with your Scholar throughout the previous month (August). The survey is a great opportunity to let us know what is working in your Mentor-Scholar relationship, and what additional supports OP can provide you with. The survey will remain open through September 9th.

Mentor Recruitment Season Is Now Open!

Our Mentor Recruitment season officially begins TODAY! We plan to offer over 700 Scholarships to graduating High School seniors this spring, and expect that most Scholarship recipients will request Mentors. It will take a considerable effort from current, former and prospective Mentors to meet this need.

• If you are a current Mentor, you should see in your Mentor Portal an option to indicate whether you are interested in Mentoring an additional student beginning in summer 2022.
• If you are a former Mentor or have never volunteered as an Oakland Promise Mentor, you will first need to attend a Mentor Informational Session. See here a calendar of upcoming sessions.

Beginning with the 2022 cohort, the Mentor Program will be capped at a 2 -year commitment, maximum. We hope that this programmatic shift will help to attract more Mentors to ensure that our volunteer pool grows along with our cohort of Scholars. If you'd like to get more involved in supporting our outreach efforts, or have any questions about Mentoring, please email mentors@oaklandpromise.org.

Alumni Announcements

Alumni LinkedIn Page and Alumni Mixer

Greetings OP Alum! We hope that this note finds you well and that you are prospering in all of your endeavors. We are making some great changes at OP and want to keep you updated as best as we can. One way is that we are combining all of our newsletters so that you can have a better pulse on what OP is doing and ways that you can be engaged. Although there will be a section of the newsletter specific to Alumni, we want to direct you to our LinkedIn Alumni Community Page as well. I will be posting on there sporadically through September, but once October hits, you should expect to see more consistent posts regarding job opportunities, professional development, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy! We hope you continue to stay engage and will join us on Saturday, October 23rd at 11am PST for our Alumni Mixer. More information on the mixer is forthcoming.