They both love soccer. But they cheer for different teams.
Eduardo Lago, a University of Miami senior who was born in Spain, is an avid Real Madrid fan.
Yamil Rivera, a high school senior who was born in Nicaragua, favors Barcelona.
But they do not allow their rivalry to interfere with their camaraderie.
“We are the best of friends,” said Lago. “I think we will be friends forever.”
The have become friends, as well as being mentor and mentee, through a program called Inspire U. It brings together mostly first-generation high school students with University students, most of whom are Ronald A. Hammond scholars.
The Hammond Scholarship is given to diverse high school seniors who have demonstrated academic excellence and who intend to continue their academic pursuits through graduate education. The scholars receive the full cost of tuition at the University for their undergraduate studies.
Wendy Morrison Cavendish, the director of Inspire U and professor at the School of Education and Human Development, began the program when she was a teacher in residence at Booker T. Washington Senior High School and noticed that the school was looking at ways to improve its graduation rate and provide resources for students with college aspirations.
“We wanted the program to be about building social capital,” she said. “Many of these students cannot imagine themselves on a college campus until they are actually on the campus here at UM.”
Jack Hart, social studies department chair at Booker T. Washington and liaison for Inspire U, has been involved with the program for the past eight years.
“This program works,” he said. “Many mentoring programs are funded for a purpose that is not genuine. Inspire U was started from the heart and is still a mentoring program that functions from the heart of all the people who are involved.”
Celebrating its 10th year of operation, Inspire U has served more than 500 high school students. About 90 percent of its graduates go on to college.
“This program has done so much for me,” said Rivera. One of the most rewarding experiences, he said, was spending the summer doing research on civil engineering projects with Lago. Through the University program called JANUS—short for Joint Academic Nurtureship for Underrepresented Students—they were able to work in a laboratory mixing proteins and concrete to try to create a more environmentally friendly product.
In their free time, Lago and Rivera became closer. They played video games but also talked about how to write an essay for a college application and how to prepare for the SATs. Rivera hopes to apply to the University. “I love this campus,” said Rivera.
Inspire U brings together mentors and mentees to the Coral Gables Campus several times a year for sessions on how to prepare to take ACT and SAT tests, apply to college, obtain scholarships and financial aid, and write a college application essay. The program also teaches the students how to negotiate college life, balance their schedule, develop study habits, and even keep track of their finances.
In the past year, when issues of racial justice came to the forefront after the killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests, a virtual session on racial justice was added to the curriculum.
Dynesha Peterson, the former Inspire U president, is now a graduate student studying kinesiology at the University of Central Florida. She was one of the creators of the presentation on racial justice.
“When all these situations of police brutality and the unequal treatment of Black people came to light, I realized that the majority of our members (at Inspire U) resonate with being Black or people of color,” she said.
“I thought, ‘we have to say something, we have to be a support system for our members and see how they are handling the current climate,’ ” she said.
The session provided a safe space for dialogue to take place between the students, she said. It also asked students not only how they felt about the racial injustice but also how Inspire U should adapt to the current situation regarding social justice issues.
For Jamie Williams Smith, a senior and Hammond Scholar at the University, and Valentina Rodriguez, a Booker T. Washington senior, Inspire U has been a way to share similar life experiences. They were both raised by single mothers and are first generation students.
“I see myself in her,” said Williams Smith. “We talk about life issues and I tell her things about my college life. We are figuring things out together.”
