MIT Students Springboard Inner-City Youth to College

Since 2011, the MIT student-mentors of Amphibious Achievement have mentored inner-city high school students to promote success through a combination of aquatic sports and academic mentorship, which are generally inaccessible to inner-city youth.

The group recruits students, called “Achievers”, that display strong motivation to succeed academically but may not receive high marks in their coursework. Many of these mentees come from low-income families and do not speak English at home.
 
As a volunteer swim instructor in high school, Charlotte Keeley ‘17, Managing Director of Development and varsity crew athlete, was “absolutely astonished by the extent that socio-economic background translates into swimming ability.” Keely continued, “As soon as I saw the Amphibious Achievement booth at CPW I knew I wanted to be a part of it because it combined athletics in a team setting, life-saving skills, and the tools and mentorship to be ready for what comes after high school.”
 
MIT mentors are extremely devoted, giving at least 5 hours per week to academic tutoring, 7 hours for those who both coach and tutor, and 12-15 hours a week for the board of directors. Over 20 Sundays during the academic school year mentees learn competitive swimming strokes and rowing techniques in the water while developing skills in the classroom in areas like math, debating current events, and the college admission process.
 
“I loved the idea of mentorship through both athletics and academics,” said Executive Director Anita Liu ‘17 of why she got involved. “I especially liked the emphasis on college readiness.”
 
Emily Keeley ‘17, Managing Director of Campus Relations, was drawn to this combination after joining the varsity rowing team at MIT. “As I grew more familiar with the sport of rowing, I began to fully appreciate the parallels between goal-setting and mentorship in athletics and academics.”
 
Despite rigorous demands at MIT, students find it both rewarding and important to be so heavily invested in a program like this. Executive Director Eric Dahlseng ‘17 is a member of the varsity swimming & diving team. “Swimming has touched my life in countless ways, and Amphibious Achievement offered me an opportunity to share the sport with the Achievers. It gave me an opportunity to share my love of swimming with the Achievers, but I realized that Amphibz impacts their lives much more deeply than I ever could have imagined.”
 
Currently 40 MIT student-mentors are paired with 55 inner-city high school students in the Boston area. Many of these students will be the first in their family to attend college.
 
“As MIT students, we are fortunate to have many resources at our disposal,” said Keeley. “However, I think that we are often entrenched in our class work and do not recognize that we have the skills to enact meaningful change in the MIT, Cambridge, and Boston communities. Public service, especially through Amphibious Achievement, has been a consistent source of fulfillment, gratification, and enrichment outside of my class curriculum. I think it is important to step outside of MIT and connect with our fellow community members, especially because we have the resources and talents to benefit the community.”
 
To learn more about Amphibious Achievement, visit http://amphibious.mit.edu/ and on their Facebook page.