“Even when everything was different, it is still the same Student U. Because Student U is no singular building, teacher, or friend group. Student U is the definition of community and connection, and that can be found and created anywhere. It grows with you, nurtures you, and carries your identity through the people that you meet here.” ~ Taryn Melvin (SU Class of 2025)
My name is Taryn Melvin, I’ve been at Student U for 6 years now and this summer I got to be one of the development team interns at Student U Summer Academy. I am a rising senior at J.D. Clement Early College High School, and I plan to attend Howard or NYU to study acting. Even though I attend JDC, I participate in the band, theater, and one voice acting troupe at Hillside High School.
A few of my favorite things are reading, hiking, and really just anything artsy. I like to consider myself a jack of all trades and a woman of many interests. A few of them being working with kids, videography, acting, spoken word, and HBCU bands.
So I first heard about Student U through Miss Bria, who oversaw middle school programming at the time. Her mother, and my mother are best friends, so her mom told my mom about Student U, and I was signed up shortly after.
What made me stay at Student U is a bit of a long answer. My love for Student U first began with my first teachers in 6th grade, who are still near and dear to my heart. I think they really set the tone and the standard for what student teachers should be. They made class engaging, they were fun, and they were empowering and really encouraging. And because of that, I think they were really good at making Student U a memorable experience and place for all of us. All of my teachers did that really well.
The one friend I came into Student U already knew was unfortunately not in my student cohort, but that ended up working out because, within the first week of coming to Student U, I had already made new friends and met so many new people.
I loved everybody in my cohort, and I got along with everyone really well while forming really nice bonds. There wasn’t any awkwardness or forced chemistry because we were all starting together in this new space and it was just really easy for all of us to connect. We all had so much fun with each other at our year-round programming, and that’s why our bonds to one another feel so secure. YRP is the after school program for students during the normal school year. It was exhilarating seeing the friends that you wouldn’t normally get to see during the school year since we all didn’t attend the same school during the school year. It was just so fun, and over the years, we played pranks, we learned new skills, and we strengthened our academics.
It was not just my friends that made YRP entertaining, but also my advocates, my tutors, and mentors. We all just clicked, and each and every one of those connections were unique. Also, I will say I have never received better grades than when I was taking tutoring at YRP.
Needless to say, another summer went by, new pieces of friends were added to the puzzle, and I became closer to the ones I had already made. Summer Academy ingrained in me who I truly am. Unfortunately, that was also my last year of YPR. Covid had hit. Things got serious. One minute, we’re in school, and the next minute, my school year is ending on a Zoom call. There was no summer academy, no eighth-grade camping trip, and no more seeing my friends.
Covid might as well have broken our puzzle, placed the pieces back in the box, and put the box on a shelf to collect dust. Student U was our mutual connection and we had lost that. So when Summer Academy opened back up my ninth grade year, I jumped at the opportunity to see my friends again.
Now, imagine my surprise when I opened up the box to reveal an entirely different puzzle. New teachers, new pieces, and new buildings, but it was the same Student U. Everything was different, and everything had changed. I felt like I had lost something. I hated what the pandemic had taken from us. Everything was so different, and truthfully, it made me sad at first. All I could see was what I had lost. All I could see was what change had taken from me, and that was disappointing. But it was that sadness and disappointment that made me scroll through my Snapchat memories to look at all the videos I had taken from when I was here at Student U with my friends, and it made me realize the happiness that I felt. You see, this happiness was some fluke or some random feeling from being at the right place at the right time. Instead, it was the feeling of connection, that spirit Student U was so intentional about creating. And that is amplified by the desire to experience that again. Even when everything was different, it was still the same as Student U because Student U is no singular building, teacher, or friend group. Student U is the definition of community and connection, which can be found and created anywhere. Each year you have the opportunity to gain new experiences, create new connections, and add new pieces to the puzzle. All are using the same foundation. Student U. I realized that you can never really lose anything or anyone here and that was confirmed by the fact that my seventh grade advocate, Ms. Tivi became my supervisor for the summer. And it was really confirmed when I almost sent myself to tears when I reconnected with my sixth-grade math tutor, Mr. Alex, who I had not seen in six years.
Student U is my childhood, teenage years, and incoming adulthood. You cannot outgrow it. You can’t disassemble it. And you can’t put it back on the shelf to collect dust. It grows with you, nurtures you, and carries your identity through the people that you meet here.
My friend group has changed. Some of my teachers have left, and I’ve had to make new friends, just like I did my first year here, and that’s okay because my old ones aren’t really going. We are here. This base was ours, and we will always be a part of it.
Student U is a part of the foundation of who I am. And because of that, anyone who knows me will know what Student U is really about.
