Volunteer Profile: Elizabeth Blanco

Liz Blanco is a program director in the nonprofit sector, a full-time graduate student, and a Cambridge mentor.

I'm in my second year of mentoring with Enroot and have been on the volunteer committee for just under a year.  My mentee and I were paired when she was a freshman. I'm hoping to work with her until she graduates and am really excited to see my her grow through her high school years. I've been able to develop a great relationship with my mentee and have met very interesting people through volunteer activities. It's also been nice to strengthen some soft skills (like intercultural communications) through the various trainings, activities, and events. 

Volunteer Profile: Tom Dworetsky

Tom works as an Economic Development Analyst and is a Somerville tutor.

I just finished my first semester volunteering as a tutor with Enroot, and it's been a great experience. I've worked with two different students so far, and love the sense of community among the students, volunteers, and program staff. It's clear that the support the students receive through the program motivates them to want to succeed in school. This opportunity to play a role in a student's life is extremely rewarding, and they are so grateful for the help. 

I can't recommend Enroot enough! Get involved -- a few hours a week makes a huge difference in a student's life.

Broad Institute Visit

I am Adnan. I am a sophomore at CRLS. I am originally from India, but I grew up in U.A.E. My Enroot visit was to Broad Institute in January of 2017. At the Institute we learned about the scientist's routine, including problems they face every day to find the cure for different diseases.

In my opinion, the best part of the visit was the white board which they have attached to all the walls around the institute. The scientists use the white board to write their ideas while researching.

The lesson that I learned from the visit is that being a scientist is challenging. The process of finding the cure is hard, because you have to do several trials to improve your technique and be successful in your research.

I have also learned that becoming a scientist is not my ideal career because they do trials with animals and I am not comfortable with that. My ideal career would be to become an Architect Engineer, because I can combine my good math skills with my dreams to develop new concepts to build offices, schools, hospitals, bridges, roads, and houses.