What do you want to be when you grow up? This deceivingly complex question is often asked of middle school and high school students. Part of its complexity stems from the fact that there are many possible paths a student could consider, from pursuing higher education to getting a job, starting a family, or just discovering what one is passionate about or good at. The process of sifting through possible futures, while often exciting, is also mediated by one’s ability to access knowledge of what opportunities are available. Many youth have an identity-foreclosed mindset, where they’re most likely to choose the most obvious path for themselves, which usually means the path they’ve seen their parents or relatives take. To avoid identity foreclosure, young people need meaningful opportunities to imagine diverse possible futures, to learn about and “try on” different interests and roles, and to take low-risk forays into new territory.  

In response to this need, the Harward Center is excited to be working with the newly formed Aspirations Club at Bates, whose members seek to support local middle and high school youth as they explore possible futures for themselves. The Aspirations Club got its beginning in an essay written by Lily Houser ‘25 in Professor Sam Boss’s First Year Seminar in Fall 2021. The essay highlighted the critical importance of mentorship for students beyond their elementary school years for future life success and happiness, while identifying a lack of such programs in the Lewiston Auburn area. Inspired to see a program like this come to fruition, Lily recruited two of her peers – David Nimura ‘25 and Adriana Varea ‘25 – who collaboratively created the Aspirations Club. As the advisor of this exciting new club, I wanted to hear more from the student leaders about the process of creating this club and what they are looking forward to for this semester! Fortunately, Adriana Varea was able to fill me in!

What inspired your group to start the Aspirations Club? 

“We recognized what looked like a gap that needed to be filled in the Lewiston-Auburn community, and we connected with community partners who confirmed that suspicion. Mentorship and community engagement efforts are often centered around the younger generations in the Lewiston Auburn area. For example, Bates students work with many amazing programs that focus on elementary school students (such as Big Brother, Big Sister; Playground PALs; and Book Buddies). However, these mentorship programs are less common for middle and high school students. Our aim is to create a long lasting and meaningful relationship with the older kids to help them think about what success looks like for them in the future.”

What are you looking forward to with the club this semester? Why should people join? 

“Since this is our first semester as an official club, we are looking forward to hitting the ground running! Being part of a new club is exciting, so we are encouraging people to join so they can have a positive impact in the Lewiston Auburn community through various community-engaged projects we will be facilitating in collaboration with off-campus partners. At the same time, they can make connections and friends with like-minded people in the Bates community.” 

Any early successes for the club? What’s next?

“One early success we had was at the club fair, where we gained several new members. With so many new members, we are working to expand the mentorship program beyond Lewiston High School to other interested local schools, which would be a big success for the club.”

In the new semester, club members plan to organize Aspirations Days, continue the mentorship program, and work on restarting CAMP, the College Access Mentorship Program. Bates students who are interested in joining the Aspirations Club, can sign up for their email list by joining their Bates Engage group linked here!