“Stronger Together: The Mutual Benefits of Mentoring on our Community”

Stockton Scholars Mentor Program aims to inspire the next generation of Stockton leaders and empower them through one-on-one mentorship. Professional mentors provide hybrid coaching support to mentees for at least one academic year. Mentors and mentees meet twice a month to discuss topics including but not limited to professional development, academic success, life skills, and career preparation. The goal of the program is to help current undergraduate students persist in their higher education journeys, and transition smoothly into a fulfilling career path after graduation.

Long-time mentor and mentee pair, Nik Howard and Angela Estrada, discuss the impacts of participating in mentorship and how it has shaped their identities as community leaders and Stocktonians. Angela Estrada is a first-generation college graduate and a part of the first inaugural class of scholars from our city to receive the Stockton Scholars scholarship award. As a fierce Latina leader and community organizer, Angela’s desire for undergraduate mentorship came from a need to build authentic and supportive relationships that could help her navigate the college systems on her campus.

Angela: “The Stockton Scholars Mentorship Program opened my eyes and the world in front of me. I became a mentee during my third year at UCLA. As a Latina who grew up low-income in Stockton, my future always stirred up emotions of anxiety for me. Sure, I made it to college and I was doing what I needed to do to graduate. But, I didn’t know how to deal with all the nuances college introduced me to or what I would do after graduation. I didn’t have any relationships beyond Stockton.”

Angela needed more personalized guidance and clarity on how to navigate her path as a first-generation college student at UCLA. Out of curiosity, she applied to the Mentor Program and was matched with her mentor, Nik Howard, during her 3rd year of college.

Nik Howard, Executive Director of Reinvent Stockton Foundation, is a father, husband, public servant, educator, and social impact leader with ample experiences and wisdom that he has imparted on Angela during their 2.5-year mentoring relationship. Not only did Angela start receiving the one-on-one guidance she needed to persist into her senior year of college, but Nik also was able to cycle his success back into his mentee and relate authentically to her experiences.

Nik: “Being a Stockton Scholars mentor gives me optimism, hope, and inspiration for our next generation of leaders. As a first-generation college student, I became a mentor to pay it forward to the next generation. Navigating higher education was a huge challenge for me and I hope that, as a mentor, I can do as much as possible to help our Scholars avoid the same experience.”

Nik became a source of inspiration and hope for Angela, and helped her form connections outside of the Mentor Program. For example, Nik had professional networks in LA from his past roles and encouraged Angela to get connected to other professionals and social impact spaces that he had prior experience with in LA. With Nik’s advice, Angela slowly began to push herself outside her comfort zone and connect with locals who could point her to networking opportunities, internship/job leads, and career development initiatives. She began to see a difference in how she was able to build relationships with her peers, professors, and potential employers.

Angela: “The mentorship program provided me with many unexpected gifts I wouldn’t otherwise have come across or at least come across later in life. Growing up, I was always taught to try hard and things would work out for me. This is true, but we have to acknowledge that it’s more than just trying hard. You need to meet people. Make cross-generational and cross-cultural relationships. You need to have a support system outside of your immediate family. Coming from a community like Stockton, we need to do more than just try hard. We need to be intentional about the relationships we make. No one teaches us this.”

Luckily, Nik knew the importance of networking and building community on campus. His encouragement instilled confidence in Angela to see herself as a valuable asset to the community she lived in, enhancing her engagement and lived experience in LA. But it wasn’t just Angela benefiting from her connection with her mentor. Nik reflects on how his perception of the world shifted as he continued meeting with Angela. In his time building trust and camaraderie with her, he recognized that mentees offer fresh perspectives and dynamic ideas to mentors, and that their conviction is what drives this next generation of scholars and leaders to success. It was awe-inspiring to see himself in a young person, and to be a motivational cheerleader for Angela during unprecedented times.

Nik: “One of the things that has surprised me the most about the challenges this generation of Scholars faces is how much more complex the world is compared to when I embarked upon my journey through higher education. From social media to geopolitics, I can’t imagine balancing being a first-generation college student with all the other competing commitments our kids face nowadays. I will say that our Scholars are much more mature and convicted in how they see the world and how they want to make an impact than I was at their age.”

Angela: “I appreciate Nik Howard, my mentor, for introducing me to topics like education justice, which is ultimately the sector of work I decided to go into. I appreciate my other mentors, Missy Rae Magdalera and Sylvia Gillies, for keeping it real with me when struggling with what decisions to make. Many students in Stockton are first-generation so mentorship can be that extra help they need when deciding where to work, who to live with, and how much your salary should be. Mentorship made me more confident in the adult I was becoming because all of my mentors shared their wisdom with me and always reassured me that I was on the right track.”

Nik: “I think I probably learned more from Angela Estrada, my mentee, than she got from me. But I think that’s the point to a certain extent. Of course I want to feel like I’m sharing some wisdom with her along the way and helping her live her dream. There are so many unwritten rules about college and adulthood that I think we all need mentors. In return, she has inspired me so much about her belief in Stockton, our future, and our ability to impact change. Mentorship is definitely a symbiotic relationship for both mentor and mentee and I feel honored and privileged to have gotten to know and support Angela the last few years.”

Angela Estrada graduated from UCLA in 2023 with a degree in Archaeology. During her time as a mentee, she was able to be a part of many new and exciting ventures including: securing leadership positions within several student organizations on campus, studying and traveling abroad twice to Italy and Cambodia, giving back to her younger peers as a College Ambassador for UCLA, and securing a job working in the social impact sector immediately after graduation. Nik has continued to meet with Angela and support her in her transition from college to career. Their relationship is a testament to the organic nature of mentoring or being mentored – to play a vital role in someone else’s development, commit to growing together over time, and remaining consistent in supporting one another even after we achieve our goals.

Angela: As a past mentee of the mentorship program, I believe it’s important for Stockton leaders to sign up to be mentors. Professionals from Stockton understand the community and its youth best. Your life experiences can serve as wisdom and a support system for younger folks. Remember when you were younger and dealing with challenges you didn’t know how to overcome? You can be that voice of advice for younger folks. As a young person from Stockton, I am eager to learn from others in my community, but I’ve noticed there aren’t many spaces for us to connect. Not only can you provide guidance on what you currently do, but what you did in the past. For example, my mentor currently resides and works in San Joaquin County, but he was able to connect me to many people in Los Angeles since he’s originally from there and worked there.

Nik: I’m not from Stockton originally so it’s been a blessing to work with Angela as a mentee. She has taught me so much about her experience, her perspective on Stockton, and her love of her community. As a professional in the nonprofit space in Stockton, this has been one of the most valuable experiences since I moved to the community in 2011. I’ve always been nervous about serving Stockton in a genuine and authentic way because I’m a transplant, so I listen deeply when Angela and other Scholars give me the gift of their stories and experiences. I think it’s crucial for leaders and elders in Stockton to serve as mentors whether we’re originally from here or not because we need to understand the experiences of young Stocktonians and support them as they transform their city.

Whether you are from Stockton or residing in the State of California, your experiences are invaluable! Mentorship is a sacred and pivotal relationship that many young people want, but don’t have access to or knowledge of how to utilize. Stockton Scholars Mentor Program invites our readers to help us inspire the next generation and empower them through mentorship. Stockton Scholars is expanding its reach and seeking 200 mentors to assist, coach, guide, and support our scholars for the 2024-25 academic year.

With a dramatic increase in students seeking mentorship, we need your help to ensure that our scholars have at least one trusted mentor to lean on and learn from. Your story, voice, and experiences could be the difference between a student graduating from college or not. Mentors and mentees like Nik and Angela implore you to consider signing up to mentor a young person in need.

If you are passionate about guiding young scholars to achieve their fullest potential and cycling your success into Stockton youth, please visit www.tinyurl.com/inspirethenextgen to learn more about becoming a mentor!

Angela: “We need to hear the voices and stories of our elders.”

Nik: “No matter how much we think we know as mentors, our young people will always be able to teach us and expand our worldview.”