Lexie Munevar Finds Support, Success, at Cañada College
Thu, 24 October, 2013 at 8:37 amMunevar struggled at Carlmont High but blossomed at Cañada
“He was the first professor I connected
with in my first semester at Cañada in the fall of 2010,” Munevar said. “I was
a full time student, babysitting every day and enrolled in Math 200 – Elementary Statistics
& Probability. My initial goal was to merely pass the class because
I had heard how difficult it was and I didn’t have much time to dedicate to the
course.”
Austin, who was working as a tutor in
the Cañada College Learning Center, held a math workshop twice a week and
Munevar began attending on Friday mornings. “It was the first time I had
academic support outside the classroom,” she said. “He was the first person I felt
I could go to for help.”
Working with Austin, Munevar began to
understand statistics. “Frank was an amazing resource,” she said. “I not only
passed the class but I received an ‘A’. at that point, I became optimistic
about my studies.”
Austin remembers Munevar as a shy
student who didn’t say much in the workshops but was always alert and had a
ready smile. “I was very pleasantly surprised in later years as I watched her
grow out of her shyness and become a student leader. I am very, very happy for
her success and I’m sure that more successes await her.”
While her academics improved, Munevar
was still missing the college experience. “My first two years at Cañada, I
strictly attended class. I was not part of any groups, clubs, or organizations
on campus. In the fall of 2012, I joined student government and was elected
Commissioner of Publicity. I had no experience whatsoever in extracurricular
activities but I was ready to experience it all and I got hooked!”
Munevar loved interacting and
collaborating with her peers and the satisfaction she received organizing events
for campus. This created a domino effect and she soon joined a number of groups,
including the honor society. She was eventually hired as a mentor for Cañada’s Beating
the Odds program, which pairs a current student with a new, first-generation,
student to help boost the new student’s odds of success.
“These organizations gave me an
opportunity to meet and work with my peers, staff, and faculty from the
college,” she said. “It made me feel like a professional, productive and
influential person – I was now beyond just being a student.”
She carried that confidence to UC Davis,
where she is currently studying psychology. “At Cañada, I did a six month
volunteer internship at Stanford Medicine Outpatient Center where I confirmed my
interest in pursuing graduate school. I want to become an occupational
therapist.”
Munevar said it doesn’t matter if you
performed poorly in high school or if you don’t have support at home, you can
succeed at Cañada. “Cañada is a community of people that genuinely care about
you and your success. The campus is small enough that teachers, staff, and
peers will recognize you. Once you become involved at Cañada, you will find
people who will become your family. Once I got involved, I realized how crucial
it is to have people that check-in to support you. It’s such an easy thing to
do but it’s precisely what many of us need to keep moving forward and help us
achieve our goals.”
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