The personal story of our Program Director, Bianca Pena, gives a glimpse into just why our mission as JOYA Scholars is so important to the lives of our students and why we believe so deeply in our mentoring program.

A native of Southern California, Bianca was born in Torrance and grew up in Santa Ana. Throughout her years in school, Bianca was a high achieving student, ranking in the top 1% of her class as a senior in high school. Yet Bianca had no awareness of college leading up to graduation. Because of this, as she puts it, “I was not planning to apply and enroll…anywhere.”

Fortunately for her, Bianca had a friend who frequented the high school’s counseling center. One afternoon, Bianca met a college student at the center who was doing outreach on campus. He attended a local university and encouraged Bianca to think about applying for college. This was the first college student she had ever met and the first adult she conversed with about college. Interested, Bianca learned she was eligible to apply to four UC schools without charge, and in the end was accepted to two of them, being awarded several scholarships and a significant amount of financial aid on top of that.

“Interacting with an adult about college made all the difference for me. For one, I learned that college was the next step after high school – I wasn’t aware of that before. Secondly, I learned what to do to apply and get admitted to college. Once I understood college was an option for me and that there were ways I could afford to go, it was something I wanted to pursue. Attending college has made an enormous difference in my life.”

Students in the Garnet Neighborhood are a lot like Bianca growing up. A vast majority of them have never had an adult talk to them about college, and many are resigned that they could never afford to go even if they wanted. But our program is changing all that.

As Bianca describes, “Through relationship building with our mentors and by participating in our workshops and college visits, our students become interested, motivated, and spurred on toward college. As they gain knowledge, experience and relational support through our program, their mindsets are changed and their pursuit of higher education is strengthened.”

The ultimate hope of JOYA Scholars is that inspired and prepared for college life, our students will attend and graduate from the best universities, pursue great futures for themselves and their families, and return to impact other kids in the community.

“I enjoy many, many things about my role as Program Director. The list is very long. Yet I would say that I find the most satisfaction in two main things: the relationships and the mission. JOYA Scholars grew out of relationship – and we are sustained by them. Each time I connect to an advisory team member, board member, donor, intern, student, parent, partner, or volunteer, I am reminded of all the people who make our program possible. And our mission is deeply meaningful to me as well. From experience, I know what it’s like to lack support as a high school student and, as a consequence, to not have a vision for one’s future. But I also know, from my life, the difference just one individual can make in the life of a student.”